Sister Wolf
by Rosea
Summary: Wolf said he had a family once. Leila, his youngest sister, gets tangled in a web of magic, secrets and curses as she searches for her missing brother. Leila has driven off the witch, but the evil has found a new host and Leila's battle is not yet over.
1. Chapter 1 Escape

Sister Wolf 

This story was originally published under the title "The Other Wolf" but since several years have passed between instalments I decided to revisit the original chapters and re-publish it under a new title.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the 10th Kingdom characters and I don't make any profit off them.

Wolf had a family once. He told Virginia that his parents had been killed by farmers, but what about the rest of the cubs?

Life for the young cubs wasn't easy, especially when they got separated from each other. It makes no difference if you're human or wolf and how deeply the wounds run when you see your family murdered in front of you.

Leila, Wolf's youngest sister, was 12 when their parents were murdered and soon after was captured by Trolls and taken as their slave to the Troll Kingdom. How did she survive? How did she manage to escape? What became of her afterwards? And will she ever see her beloved brother again?

**Chapter 1. Escape.**

Leila crouched under the stinking bush and held her breath, hoping and praying that the trolls wouldn't find her. She wouldn't go back, she wouldn't be their slave again. She would rather die first. In the last four years she had all of the kicks, beatings and humiliations she could stomach.

"Where's the little bitch disappeared to?"

Leila crouched lower as the Troll King, at the head of the hunting party, stood beside the bush, unaware how close his quarry was. The Troll King was the worst of the lot; he had beaten her for the slightest error, struck her and imprisoned her in a tiny, stinking cell far below the broken-down castle for no reason except to satisfy his own twisted sense of fun.

"She came this way," Blabberwort, his daughter, said, "I can smell her."

Leila squeezed herself into a tighter ball. _NonononononoNO! I'm not here, you can't smell me, you can't see me_, she thought, her eyes tight shut, sure that at any moment she would feel a hand around her neck and be hauled up to be punished all over again. She had to stop herself from breaking from her cover and running in blind panic. She couldn't, however, stop herself shaking like a leaf in the gale.

"What I'm going to do to that elf-sucking little vixen when I get my hands on her," growled Bluebell, the youngest troll, who was only a year or two older than Leila herself.

Leila allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. She had broken Bluebell's nose during her escape from the castle.

"She's a wolf, not a fox," Blabberwort said and smacked her brother over the head. Bluebell swore at her and the party moved on.

Leila breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the count of ten after the trolls left before crawling out from under the bush. Maybe she would manage to escape after all. She brushed herself down as best she could. The tattered, dirty tunic she wore wasn't much but it was all she had to wear.

"There she is!" Burley's shout rang out behind her.

Oh no! Leila spun around; the three trolls had strayed behind to smoke a Dwarf moss roll up, and of course they had spotted her. Blind panic gripped her and she took off as fast as she could in the other direction. The ground was rocky and uneven and sharp stones cut her bare feet, but she didn't care, all she wanted was to get away from the trolls crashing along behind her. Her lungs burned as she gasped for air. Her legs felt like leaden weights as she stumbled along. Only the terror kept her going. She would not go back, she could not go back, she would die first.

The thought gave her energy and she picked up the pace, risking a glance over her shoulder as she started up a hill, the trolls were falling behind. Leila gasped her relief; maybe she could escape after all. An instant later, she screamed and skidded to halt on the very edge of a cliff, stones clattering down the cliff face as she knocked them free. Far below a river ran along the bottom of the gorge.

Horrified Leila stared at the torrent, a mountain river running swift and deadly. She glanced back over her shoulder; the trolls had slowed to a walk and had spread out to cut off any escape route. They were stalking towards her, evil glints in their small, piggy eyes as approached slowly from three sides.

"We're gonna have sooo much fun with you when we get you home," Burley said, eyeing her with a sickening leer.

"We're gonna rip your tail off and stuff it down your throat," Blabberwort chortled.

Leila's hand went instantly to her tail, the bushy brush that she had managed to keep whole despite everything.

"We're gonna pull your nails off your toes one by one," Bluebell added. "And then use them to scratch your eyes out."

Leila was frozen with indecision. On one hand was a slow, agonizing death at the hands of the trolls, on the other was being smashed to death on the rocks or drowning in the icy river far below. Going over the cliff had to be better than surrendering to the trolls. She backed up a few paces, her mind made up, and then took a running jump off the cliff.

_I wish I had got a chance to say goodbye, Warren_, she thought sadly as she hit the water. A moment later it closed over her head.

"What's this?" the old hermit said to himself as he spotted a pile of rags lying on the riverbank, half in, half out of the water. He wandered over to it and poked it with his staff. It coughed feebly and gave a low moan.

"It's still alive!" he exclaimed, "I suppose I had better do something to help it. No, best leave it be," he disagreed with himself, "Push it back into the river, nothing to do with you. Look at it, it's probably crawling with fleas. Now now," he admonished himself gently, "Do good deeds and good deeds will be done to you. Whoever said that was an unrealistic idealist," he scoffed in return. "Better to say 'no good deed goes unpunished'. But where would I be without a good deed or two having been done for me? All I can do is return the favour."

He reached down and took a handful of ragged cloth and dragged the all the way onto the bank. It was wet and dirty and smelled.

"Its got a tail!" he said to no one in particular, poking at the brush, just to make sure it really was attached to the thing and not just stuck on. He turned the body over with his foot.

"Its young, and its female," he muttered to himself. He bent over it, her, he corrected himself, and examined her. She was painfully thin with large bruises covering much of her body. There was a brand on her right shoulder blade, the mark of the Troll King, and whip welts crisscrossing her back.

"Poor little thing," the hermit said and stroked her shaggy dark hair. "Not even a wolf deserves what you've been through. Dangerous though," he argued with himself, "helping you. You're probably wild; tear my throat out at the first chance I don't wonder. No," he convinced his argumentative side, "She won't hurt you, poor thing, probably couldn't even ravage a rabbit right now. Could use a good meal though, and another one after that, and a third one to keep the other two company." He bent down and picked her up with ease. "You're nothing but skin and bone," he said to her, "Come on, I'll fix you up, little wolf."


	2. Chapter 2 Healing

Disclaimer: same as previous chapter. **Chapter 2. Healing**

Leila knew she must be dead to wake up to such luxury. She was warm, comfortable and the savoury scent of food tickled her nostrils. Rabbit, she decided, and opened her eyes. Yes, she was definitely dead. Nowhere else but in heaven could she be in a cosy, thatch roofed cottage, in a warm, soft and dry bed with thick blankets over her and a soft pillow under her head. Nowhere else but heaven would have the birds singing outside the open window and the soft sighing of the wind through the trees. Nowhere else but in heaven could she be so content.

Then she moved and she knew she wasn't in heaven after all. If she was dead, she doubted she would feel this much pain. Spasms wracked her body as all her muscles and joints screamed in protest and pain. She clenched her jaw down hard on the scream that threatened to break free, sweat beading on her forehead as wave after wave of agony ripped through her body.

Slowly the spasms subsided and she fell back to her pillow, breathing hard, exhausted. She had never been hurt this badly before in her life, not even at the Trolls' hands. She gave a sob of despair, wishing that she had died in the river and been spared this torment. As she lay there she moved her left hand, the only limb she could move easily, and examined her situation. Her body was wrapped in numerous bandages, around her middle, her legs, her arm and one around her head. She could smell poultices of healing herbs as well, her sensitive nose sorting out each herb. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to clean and dress her wounds. She wondered, as she lay there looking at the ceiling, who her benefactor might be.

"Ah, little wolf, you're awake," a voice said.

Leila turned her head towards the cottage door, even that small movement hurt. An old man was standing there, framed by sunlight pouring in from behind. He was very old, twisted and bent and dressed in worn, patched old clothes. He was carrying a walking staff.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice rough in her dry throat. Surely he didn't mean her harm, not if it was he who had brought her here and set about healing her, but caution was deeply ingrained and she didn't trust easily.

The man came in, moving surprisingly spryly for one so old and seemingly frail. He had a basket of leaves, roots and flowers over one arm, which he dumped on the table in the middle of the single roomed cottage. "She doesn't know who you are," the old man said, "Of course not," he added, "She's never seen you before, and you don't see many people."

Leila frowned. Was the man talking to himself, or to her?

"I'm Simon," the man said finally after a few more incomprehensible mutterings. "This is my home. And you, little wolf, what's your name?"

"Leila," Leila said, "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it," Simon said, waving a hand as if to brush away her gratitude. "Anyone would have done the same thing."

"I don't think so," Leila said bitterly, "Most people would have left me to die where I fell. Most people don't like wolfies." She recited the mantra by which she had lived most of her life. People didn't like wolves, they didn't trust wolves that dressed up in human clothing, they chased them away, or stuck and stabbed them, smoked them out and burned them, even if they had never caused any harm.

'Wolf!' was what they shouted, 'Wolf! Wolf!' and ran screaming in terror, until they stopped running and started hunting, then it was the wolves who ran for their lives, away into the wilds where no one could find them, where they could be safe, if they could make it.

"Well, we're not most people," he said firmly.

"We?" Leila asked, "Is there someone else here too?"

"No," Simon said, "It's just that I've been on our own so long that we started talking to myself."

Leila gave her head a little shake, finding it a little difficult to follow when Simon switched from talking as he were one person to two people and back again in the space of one sentence. "Fair enough," she said. She spoke to herself as well, but she never replied, at least not in the same way that Simon did, as if he really were two people. "Thank you anyway, both of you."

Simon gave a little smile. "Are you in pain?" he asked.

"Yes," Leila couldn't deny it; her entire body hurt so badly.

"I'll make you a draft to sleep," Simon said, pottering around the room, muttering to himself all the while. "In sleep you heal faster," he told her, "You're body is relaxed, it can mend itself without your mind getting in the way. Sleep helps you sort out your problems, help you overcome great tragedies, helps you heal your soul."

"Not safe to sleep," Leila murmured, half asleep already from Simon's hypnotic voice. "Never safe to sleep for a wolf. Always got to watch out for hunters."

Soon he was back with a steaming cup. "There are no hunters here," he said, "I will protect you, little wolf. Sleep." He helped Leila sit up enough to drink and fed her the entire cupful. He patted her hair as she started to slip away, "Sleep and heal, I will watch over you. You are safe here, with me."

Leila drifted into the welcoming arms of sleep as Simon started singing a lullaby. Leila knew the tune; her own mother hand sung it to her when she was just a cub. That made up her mind, her instincts had told her that she could trust this strange man, and now she was certain. _I'm safe_, she thought, _there are no hunters here. No one will find me_.

For three days Leila drifted between wake and sleep, her lucid periods tortured by the pain of her injuries, her sleep haunted by nightmares. Trolls stalked through her fevered dreams, trolls with huge shoes and burning eyes, eyes that watched her constantly, eyes that glowed with a cruel, insatiable hunger. There were hunters too, hunters with swords and bows and ropes and chains and bonfires ready to throw a wolf onto. They had eyes too, eyes that burned with the same cold heartlessness. No matter where she ran in her nightmare landscape of dark, dank dead-end corridors, doors that led to rooms within rooms, and barren landscapes of lightning blasted rock and gravel, she was always watched. The eyes followed her, watching from walls, from the flickering flames of candles and torches, from the clouds overhead.

And then there were the hands.

Hand clutching at her, barring her way, coming at her with chains, with whips, with fire to burn her, pulling her this way and that. In her dreams she ran, terror stricken with no chance of finding her way out of the maze. The trolls always there, waiting for her around every corner. No matter where she ran they would find her, they would always find her, and when they did, they would hurt her.

She woke screaming from her dreams more than once, and every time she woke in a haze of terror Simon was there, gently patting her hair, talking soothing nonsense in her ear, constantly assuring her that she was safe, that the trolls wouldn't find her, or the hunters. He only ever touched her hair, stroking it with a motherly concern that was gentle and loving and reassuring, and occasionally bracing his arm around her shoulders with support that was in no way confining when helping her drink his honey sweetened medicines. Those medicines kept her asleep and in less pain and combined with her own natural strength and the naturally fast healing of wolves produced a small miracle of healing.


	3. Chapter 3 Wild Moon

**Chapter 3. The Wild Moon**

By the fourth day she was able to move with only stiffness in her joints, a few twinges from badly strained muscles, and a stab or two from her cracked ribs. Simon helped her to first sit up, then stand and slowly start to move around the small cottage, providing a supporting arm and encouraging words in his strangely split voice. It was as though both Simons wanted her to get well, but had slightly different opinions on how it should be achieved.

The sound of the old man arguing with himself as he debated how to prepared herbal tinctures and whether he should let Leila out of bed, as she so desperately wanted was something that she found rather reassuring. If Simon could think of nothing worse than if she would get sunburned if he allowed her to sit outside for too long, then there _was_ nothing worse to worry about.

She pushed herself as far as she could with her healing. There were things that she wanted to do. Firstly she wanted to scout out all the land around the cottage to see who else lived there, who might conceivably be dangerous to her, and look for some boltholes. Secondly she was determined to help Simon maintain his little holding as best she could. She knew that she was a drain on his meagre resources and once she was fully healed and back up to her normal speed, she could supplement his provisions with fresh meat and other foods of the forest. But even a wolf's endurance and stamina had limits and she could heal only so fast.

She started slowly, moving carefully around the cottage, taking care of a few small household chores, then further as her bones healed and she could move with close to her usual agility. Within a couple of weeks she had prowled around all the forest that surrounded Simon's cottage and found it to be quite isolated. There wasn't another inhabitant dwelling for at least a mile and the nearest town was more than eight miles away by river. There was no one else around who she may consider dangerous, and there were plenty of boltholes and hidey-holes within a short sprint from the cottage. The ones she marked for further investigation all had good cover leading to them and a good view of the surrounding land while being themselves completely hidden.

She loved being able to run through the forest again without any constraints, she felt safe here in the wilds, away from anyone who might have any reason, justified or not, to offer her harm. As she felt her sense of peace and security growing she found that her nightmares slowly faded and although she still occasionally had bad dreams, she didn't wake up screaming or shaking in abject terror.

Her greatest relief came at full moon. Totally healed and free from all constraints for the first time in years she was able to let her instincts take hold of her as the Wild Moon called her. She was crotchety all day, waiting for the silvery perfection of Her face to show in the night sky. Thankfully Simon fully understood what was happening to her and gave her the room she needed.

That night she ran from the cottage into depths of the forest, wild, reckless joy filling her to the brim as she ran through the trees, free as only a wolf could be. To her eyes the forest was as bright as day, painted in shimmering silvers, but to her nose there was a whole world of scents painting in bright colours, beautiful and welcoming.

She ran and ran, this time driven by nothing but the joy of the chase as she ran with the moon, playing hide and seek with the moon beams among the trees, stopping in clearings to raise her face to the moon and howl her fierce joy aloud.

The next morning Simon found her, curled up under a tree by the river, a happy smile on her lips and flecks of blood and fur around her mouth. He tutted quietly to himself left her to sleep in the sun.

Over the following months Leila made what contributions she could to Simon's provisions and helped in the running of his small holding. She hunted for rabbits and other small game in the forest, trapped ducks and geese on the wide, meandering river, and fished in the cool, clear waters. She also accompanied him on his gathering expeditions, collecting berries, nuts, fruit and herbs in their seasons, quickly learning that there was more that could be harvested from the forest than even she realised. It was a peaceful, gentle life and for the first time in a great many years, she found that she was happy and content.


	4. Chapter 4 Memories

**Chapter 4. Memories**

"Simon," she asked one night several weeks after her arrival, "How did you come to be here?"

"Ah," Simon said, "As well you might ask."

Leila waited for him to continue, but he didn't. She gave a slightly exasperated sigh, having become used to this. One part of Simon heard the question and expected the other part to answer. "Well?" she asked, "How did you come to be here?"

"Oh? You're talking to me?" Simon asked, surprised, "Of course she's talking to you, dolt," he admonished himself, "She asked you a question, go on, answer it. I thought you were going to answer it," he complained.

"Will one of you answer it?" Leila asked, "I don't care which."

"All right." He paused, frowning as he gathered his thoughts together. "My brothers and I were all named Simon by our father," Simon said, "There were seven of us and we served King Archidej, working his land to raise crops. But it was not enough so each of us learned a trade. My oldest brother, Simon, was a builder; he could build a white tower that could reach up to the stars. Simon, my second oldest brother, could climb to the top of that tower and see everything that was going on in every country of the world. My third brother…"

"Let me guess, Simon?" Leila asked with a wry smile.

"You guessed!" Simon said, delighted, "My third bother, Simon, could build a boat that could travel anywhere in the world in a day. Simon, my fourth brother, could take that boat by the prow if it was threatened, and sink it to the sea floor, then draw it back up again with no harm done. My fifth brother Simon was a bow maker, he could make a crossbow that would hit anything that the eye could see, no matter how distant it was. Simon the sixth, who was next to me in age, could retrieve whatever it was that Simon hit, no matter where it fell, even out of the greatest depths of the ocean or the darkest forest."

"Useful skills," Leila commented.

"Indeed yes, that's what the King thought too, so he employed my brothers to work for him in the palace."

"But what about you?" Leila asked. "What was your trade?"

Simon sighed. "Ah, my little wolf, mine was a trade that caused me great despair. Unlike my brothers I couldn't learn anything so useful as building towers or boats or bows, or being able to see to the worlds end or sink and raise ships. No, the only thing I learned to do was be a thief. I could find and steal anything, even if it was locked in the deepest vault or safe I could steal it and hide it so no one would ever find it again."

"I bet the King didn't like that."

"He certainly didn't," Simon said passionately. "He didn't like it so much that he was going to have us hanged right there, even though he had promised not to, and even though I had never stolen anything in my life, at least, nothing of any great value. If it hadn't been for my brothers we would have died on the end of a rope that day. Instead, the king took me and chained us up threw me into his deepest, darkest dungeon in his prison."

The naked pain of loss and betrayal on Simon's face, even all these years later, touched a chord in Leila's heart. She understood only to well what it was like to lose something so dear as freedom, to be betrayed by those you trusted and thought your friends. "How did you escape?" she asked gently.

"Didn't escape," Simon said, "We didn't escape. The King released me after years of rotting in prison, to steal him a princess from a far off land, a land so far it would have taken ten years in an ordinary ship to reach it. I had no choice. I went and I stole him his princess and he gave me his pardon. But he made us do something that we never ever wanted to do, and I didn't stick around for him to do it again, so I took Simon's boat and I came here, where he could never find us."

"What about your brothers?" Leila asked.

"They left the King as well, he had a volatile temper and as far as I know, he was quite mad towards the end of his life," Simon said.

"Did you ever see them again?"

"Oh yes, they came to see us once or twice, here we are safe, safe from the King, safe from those who would do us harm." Simon stared into the fire, watching the flames dance across the logs, lost in thoughts and memories.

"And you've lived here ever since?" Leila asked, wanting to start the conversation again.

"I wandered around the Nine Kingdoms for a while, picking up work here and there, until I found this place, deep in the wilds, where there was no one else around. I'm safe here, no one can find me and make us do anything we don't want to do."

Leila took his hand in hers. She understood him better than he might ever imagine. All she wanted in life was a place where she could be herself, where she could live without being hated and feared simply because of what she was, where she could walk around without people throwing things at her or trying to drive her away. A haven. Simon had found one for himself, and so would she, eventually.

"What about you?" Simon asked her, "How did you come to be a slave to the Trolls."

It was a question for which Leila had been waiting for months, expecting it and dreading it at the same time. She hung her head, tears blurring as her sight as her memories poured out of her, memories of that dreadful day when her life had been torn apart. "I was 12 years old," she told the old man, "On that day I was playing hide and seek with my brother, Warren, or as we used to call it, run and hunt…"


	5. Chapter 5 Leila

**Chapter 5. Leila's Story**

"Where are you, Leila," Warren called out as he prowled around the forest, "You can't hide, I can smell you out. No matter where you go I'll find you, little sister, it's only a matter of time." He prowled into a clearing in the forest and sniffed. "Oh yes, I'm getting closer. I'm coming to get you, then you'll have to do the washing up for a month."

Up in the tree across the clearing Leila sat on a high branch watching her brother carefully. _A little closer, just another step…_

"I'm going to get you, little sister, you can't hide from this nose," Warren continued, "I can- _ugh!_"

Leila covered her mouth with one hand to smother a snigger; Warren had stumbled straight into her trap. He should have known that she wasn't simply going to wait for him to sniff her out. She had rigged the trap across the path she knew he would take. A little trip line holding up a rock suspended over a small vial of very strong smelling oils, peppermint and rosemary among them, set right in his path. As he pulled the cord free, the rock fell, the vial broke and his nose was hit with some of the strongest scents possible without acquiring distilled essence of beanstalk. His nose wouldn't work properly for days.

"Huff puff!" he swore, "what have you done to me, you little vixen?" Warren's nose was going bright red and his eyes were streaming from the volatile liquids.

Leila nearly gave herself away by laughing out loud, but managed to smother the sound by stuffing her tail in her mouth. Served him right for betting that he could find her no matter what she did! That would teach him to make wagers with her, especially when it involved washing dishes.

While his stinging nose and running eyes distracted him, Leila shimmied down her tree and dashed out of the clearing, headed for home. That was their wager, if she could get home from their favourite fishing spot before he caught her, he would have to do the washing up for a month; if he caught her, she did the washing up. She had known that she couldn't beat him by speed alone. He was bigger and faster than she was, so she had to rely on her cunning instead, which was why she had secretly equipped herself with the vial on the morning of their bet. Now he would have to do the washing up! Leila laughed, delighted with herself as she ran home.

"Leila?" her mother asked as she burst into the clearing where their house stood, "What's wrong? What's happened? Where's your brother?"

Leila loved her mother, her beautiful, regal, loving, _human_ mother. She had held the family together through the difficult times, and there had been lots of those, bringing laughter and music to even the darkest times, lifting their spirits and bringing light into a world of despair. She gave her children everything she possibly could, love, approval, and sometimes disapproval, hope, support, encouragement, and after they had been told they weren't allowed to go to school any more, 5 years ago now, an education. A better teacher the children could not have had, in all aspects of life.

Leila hadn't known it then, she had been shielded from the worst that the world could throw at her, but in running off with a pure bred wolf and becoming his mate, her mother had committed the worst of social crimes. She was outcast from her family and human society, but she had never let her children suffer, and she had never regretted her decision. She still loved her husband and family with all her heart.

"Mother!" Leila cried with delight and ran up to hug her around the middle. "I won! I won! Now Warren has to do the washing up!"

"Hold on, slow down," her mother said as she detached her youngest child from around her waist. "What are you talking about?"

"I made a bet with Warren that he couldn't catch me between the fishing hole and here, and I won!" Leila said, dancing around exuberantly.

"Huff puff!" her mother exclaimed, "You had me worried for a moment, little cub, I thought there was something wrong, the way you burst in like that!"

"No, no, no," Leila sang out, "Just me besting my big brother, I bet he thinks that's something wrong."

"Add you'd be righd," Warren said through a blocked up nose as he walked into the garden, his eyes puffed and running and his nose bright red. "Id was bery wrog."

"Good heavens, Warren, what happened?" their mother asked, torn between laughter and concern at her oldest child's predicament.

"Leila happeded," he said with disgust, "She's far to cleber by half. Dropped a scent bomb ob me, I won't be able to smell anythig for a week."

"You clever little cub," their mother said, "But I think you may have overdone it a little."

Leila humphed, crossed her arms and turned her back resolutely on her brother. "So," she said over her shoulder, "Are you going to honour our bet? You do the washing up for a month."

"All righd, all righd," Warren said wearily, "I'll do id. Now, I'm going do blow by dose."

"Really, Leila, that was very unkind," her mother scolded her gently, then broke into a broad grin, "But also very clever. Well done, little cub, but don't do it again, at least not to family."

Leila hung her head, a little ashamed; she had caused her brother discomfort when the only consequence she would have got was washing dishes. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice.

Her mother patted her on the head, "Now why don't you go and find Serif and Delphina and give them a hand with the snares."

"Yes, mother," Leila said, and dashed off into the forest to find her other brother and sister.

They were close, the four siblings, with Warren, passionate and extravagant, the oldest at 17, then Serif, quiet, studious Serif who was 15, 13 year old Delphina, the true beauty of the family with her golden brown hair and glowing smile and herself, Leila, cunning and crafty and full of good humour, the youngest at 12. They did everything together, bound by ties of love despite their differences.

Leila's parents, Scarlet and Darien had both been born in the 2nd Kingdom and after they had married they had wandered the western Kingdoms for many years, bringing Warren and Serif into the world before trying to find a place to settle down and raise their children in peace and safety. They had tried desperately to find a place, but three times they had been driven out until they had found a small clearing in the wilds between the 2nd and the 4th Kingdoms ten years ago.

It was a perfect place, a gentle slope running from a low stone escarpment to a burbling creek, the water dancing and singing over the rocks. The slope was a natural meadow with rich soil and a thick covering of grasses and herbs that let up a delicious scent when walked on. They had built a small cottage in a clearing not far from the forest edge and had lived in self-enforced isolation from the farmers who lived beyond the edge of the woods. They knew that if they ever drew attention to themselves there was a very great chance that they would be driven off to wander again. No one liked wolves.

Now their father worked for a merchant in the village, doing the dirtiest of jobs, the ones that no one else wanted, in an attempt to keep his family fed. Their mother made a garden in the clearing, worked in the house and made beautiful embroidered aprons to sell in the market, and the children hunted in the forests for small game and berries and nuts to supplement their poor existence. It was a hard life, but they had each other and considering all other things, were happy.

Leila found Serif and Delphina resetting the snare lines, with four rabbits they had caught at their feet. Leila's mouth watered at the scent of the fresh meat, but despite the temptation she didn't scoff the lot.

"Leila!" Delphina called, "Come, look what we found."

Leila hurried over, curious. In her sister's arms lay a beautiful newborn lamb. Leila had never seen anything so scrumptious in her life. "Can we eat it?" she asked.

"There's not enough meat on it," Serif said, "It's only very small, but it will grow. We could keep it until it got big enough to eat."

"Where did you get it?" Leila asked.

"We found it, up near the end of the snare line," Delphina said, "Its mother got trapped in a gully up by the forest edge and died giving birth to it. We couldn't bring the ewe, it was too heavy, but we can tell Mother, and she and Warren can come and get it."

"Mmmm," Serif sighed with dreamy pleasure, "Mutton stew, chops, roast sheep with rosemary and baby potatoes."

"Oh, Serif," Leila said, swallowing a mouthful of saliva, "You say the most wonderful things sometimes."

"Come on," Delphina said, getting up and cradling the lamb in her arms, "Let's take it back home. Serif, you bring the rabbits."

"Mother, Mother!" Delphina called as they ran into the cottage, "Look what we found."

Their mother straightened from where she had been stirring a pot over the open range, a delicious smell wafting on the steam. She saw the rabbits and gave a little sigh of pleasure, then saw the lamb in Delphina's arms and gave a yelp of surprise.

"Where did you find that?" she asked, hurrying over to examine the little thing.

"At the edge of the woods," Serif explained, laying the rabbits on the table, "Its mother is still there, she died giving birth to it."

"Can we keep it, mother?" Delphina asked, "It's too little to eat yet, but in a few months it will be big and juicy."

"That it will," their mother said, examining the lamb that looked back at her with a mixture of ovine stupidity and devotion. It gave a bleat and struggled a little in the cub's arms.

"Oh look," she said, "It thinks you're its mother, Mother."

"Will you children promise to take care of it?" mother asked sternly, "Feed it and keep it in a safe pen and look after all its needs?"

"Until the day we eat it, Mother," Leila promised.

"Then I guess you can keep it. Now, you said that its mother was somewhere close?"

"Yes, on the edge of the woods, I can show you where," Serif said.

"A sheep, you say," a deep, resonant voice said behind them.

"Father!" the three children chorused and threw themselves into his arms.

Their father laughed and tried to hug each one of them in turn before he got swarmed under. At this time of the month there wasn't that much difference between him and the human's he worked for. He was a bit hairier, his teeth were sharper, his ears were more pointed and could move independently of each other and, of course, he had a tail. When the moon was full he changed back into his full wolf form and guided his children in the hunt in the forest, but during the rest of the time, he could almost pass among the 'civilised' folk.

"Father, you smell," Leila said, wrinkling her nose at the odour rising off their father's clothing.

"No, cub, I stink, you smell," he corrected her, "Didn't they teach you anything at that school?"

"Oh, huff puff!" Leila exclaimed. "I only went there for a couple of years."

Father managed to extricate himself from his children and went to kiss his wife. She wrinkled her nose at him as well. "She's right," Mother said, "You do stink."

"I was mucking out the stable," Father said, shrugging, "I'll go and wash then take Warren to get that sheep. It will be good to have a bit of mutton again."

After a quick wash to get rid of the smell of 'civilisation' father collected Warren, whose nose was still bright red, had a good laugh at the tale, and then let Serif guide them to the sheep. While they were away, Leila and Delphina built a little pen in the garden to keep their sheep in and their mother pottered around the house humming little sheep related ditties to herself in happy anticipation of lamb chops, roast lamb and lamb casserole. As human as she was, she had picked up a lot of wolfishness over the years.

Unfortunately Warren, Serif and their father didn't know that the sheep's owner was also out at the edge of the forest that evening, looking for his lost ewe, and when he saw the three wolves, he hid himself to watch. He saw them pull the ewe out of the gully where it had been hidden and carry it back into the forest. He gritted his teeth. He had known this would happen; those damn wolves were taking his sheep now, despite all their promises not too. It was time to get rid of them. He rose from his hiding place and headed back to town as fast as he could.

Night was falling and the wolves just finishing their feast of mutton when They came, a great mob of farmers and townsfolk, all angry, all wielding weapons. It was Mother, who had been scraping the leavings of the meal onto her compose heap in her garden who heard them first, crashing through the forest. Panic gripped her, what she had feared for so long had come to pass. She dropped the plates and ran back into the house.

"Hunters!" she shouted to her family.

Father surged to his feet immediately, but the children sat, petrified in their seats, too shocked and scared to move. "Warren!" Father shouted, breaking his oldest son out of his fear induced trance. "Get the children to safety. We'll hold them off as long as we can."

Warren was on his feet in a moment, pulling Serif and Delphina up. Leila was too afraid to even move despite his urgings, so he simply picked her up and carried her. Their father waved them out the back door of the cottage and towards their bolthole, a hiding spot for just this emergency. Their bolthole was a small cave in the low escarpment backing the clearing. It was little more than a crack that ran back into the hillside, just wide enough for young bodies to squeeze into. Warren managed to get himself and the others across the small stretch of open space and into the small cave, hiding the entrance with brush and bushes just before the mob surged into the clearing.

Their parents stepped out to meet the crowd, Scarlet drawing herself up to her full, regal height with Darien protectively at her side. She tried to speak, to explain, to call them off, but the baying of the crowd drowned her voice out. The bloodthirsty mob surged forward. Darien stepped up to meet them, his eyes flashing golden, wild power surging through him as he transformed into his wolf shape. Scarlet picked up the staff she had laid close at hand. The crowd paused for a moment; confronted by a huge, grey timber wolf and a warrior queen, both ready to die to protect what they loved most. However, it was only for a moment, and before sense could prevail, the mob pushed forward again.

Scarlet and Darien fought for as long as they could, but they were quickly overcome, thrown to ground and bound hand and foot. But they had left their mark, one of the attackers was dead, his throat torn out by Darien, and several others sported bruises, bites and claw marks.

One of the farmers came forward holding the lamb while others raided the house and brought out the remains of the sheep's carcase. Damning evidence when the suspects were wolves and wolf-loving humans. Scarlet and Darien were hauled up and beaten bloody by the angry crowd, drunk on blood lust and violence. Darien morphed back into his human form as the power left him, his mouth and teeth still stained with blood. The sickening thud of flesh on flesh reached even to the cowering cubs hiding close by, tears streaming from their eyes as their parents were beaten.

Then someone yelled, "Burn them!" and the cry quickly spread until all the people were chanting, "Burn them! Burn them! Burn them!"

Scarlet and Darien gave each other one last, loving, despairing glance before they were dragged apart to make room for the bonfire that was being built in the middle of the clearing.

In the bolthole Warren was wrestling with Serif and Delphina, trying desperately to keep them still and quiet while tears ran down his own face. Leila could do nothing but simply sit and watch as their parents were dragged onto the huge pile of wood. She was too scared and shocked to even whimper, not blinking as she stared at the scene. She felt oddly disconnected, as though what was happening had nothing to do with her, that she was simply an observer in a drama that was unfolding in someone else's life.

The mob put torches to the woodpile and the flames leapt up hungrily. Serif and Delphina could stand it no longer. They broke from Warren's grip and burst from the bolthole, running screaming at the nearest people to do what damage they could.

They had no chance. Almost as soon as they were seen rusty old swords and farm implements cut them down, dead before they hit the ground. The crowd cheered, they actually cheered, as the little bodies were thrown up onto the fire with their now dead parents.

"There were two more!" someone yelled.

"They came from over there!" another cried.

Warren wasted no time; their bolthole had suddenly gone from haven to trap. He picked Leila up and ran. He sprinted towards the trees, the suddenness of his appearance and the speed with which he ran giving him several seconds head start on the mob that let loose a howl of excitement and gave chase.

That small distance was enough, once they were into the trees where it was already fully dark, the half-wolf had the advantage. With his excellent night vision and intimate knowledge of the forest he quickly lost the hunters. He headed for another hidden bolthole. There were several such hiding places deep in the forest; ready for just such an emergency. He dashed in; put Leila down and quickly hid the entrance. Only then, when he was certain that they were safe did he allow himself the release of tears.

Leila was jolted out of her shock by the strangled sob that burst from Warren's lips. She watched as he sank to the ground, pounding the floor with his fists. Tears pricked her own eyes at last as the reality of what happened hit her. Her parents were dead. Her brother and sister as well. She and Warren were alone, totally alone. And there were people hunting them.

She suddenly felt as though a piece of her heart had been shorn away with a rusty knife leaving jagged, rough edges that wore at her soul. Her body started to shake and what was left of her heart skipped a beat as it hit home, her parents, her beloved parents had been brutally murdered before her eyes. Her sister and brother, so innocent, so young, so fully of life, had been slaughtered. Her kin, her blood, safety, comfort and family, all that she had ever known, was taken from her in one horrible night. She collapsed to the ground beside Warren and they caught each other in a fierce embrace, their faces buried in each other's shoulders as they howled their grief, their pain, and their anguish out loud. All thought was gone; all that existed for either of them was the horrible emptiness in their souls and the desperate, hollow gladness that at least they still had each other.

Finally, mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted, they fell asleep, still clutching each other, seeking reassurance from each other and a futile wish for a release from the pain that they knew would never, ever, fade.


	6. Chapter 6 Capture

**Chapter 6. Capture**

Leila had gone over that day time and time again in the last four years, wondering if there had been anything she could have done to save her family, but every time she did, she knew that if she had shown herself she would have died like Serif and Delphina. Now she sat, looking at the pools of water that lay in her upturned hands, salty pools of tears shed while she told her story. Never before had she told anyone what had happened, not any of the other slaves in the Troll's castle, certainly not the trolls themselves. She had kept all her pain bottled up for so long, reluctant to share her last memories of her family, as bitter as they were, with anyone else.

She felt an arm go around her shoulders. For a moment she stiffened, then relaxed, Simon was offering her comfort, and she took it, turning to sob all her bitter tears out into his patched shirt. He held her gently, letting her cry herself out, saying nothing, doing nothing, just being there for her.

Leila appreciated his closeness, his understanding, more than she could have possibly told him. To have someone there to just hold her was more than she could have asked for. To have someone who genuinely cared for her was more than she could have dreamed. It took a while, but she finally cried herself out and simply leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"There is more," she said to him.

"I thought there might be," he said. "About your brother, Warren?"

"Yes, and about the trolls," she stared into the flickering flames of the fire for a moment, gathering her thoughts and memories. "Despite what had happened I still had Warren. I thought that I would have him forever, but as it turned out not even a week had past before I lost him."

Leila and Warren stayed in the second cave for two days until they were sure that the hunt was past before venturing home. Leila found it hard to accept that their parents and siblings were gone when even now they were so large in her mind. She harboured secret hopes that somehow their parents had escaped the flames and even now were waiting for them, to take them away from this place to somewhere safe. But even as she hoped, she knew in her heart that her hopes were false, nothing could have survived that inferno. As much as she tried to deny it, she knew the truth.

The smell of burning was still thick in the forest around their once happy home, a smell that brought tears to the eyes of the two young half-wolves. There was a black ring with a few still smouldering logs in the middle of the clearing, everything else had burned away to small pile of grey ash. Warren and Leila slumped down at the edge of the black ring, clutching each other tightly, staring sightlessly at the darkness. Those ashes were all that was left of their family. Just seeing them brought the tears on anew, but this time Leila and Warren simply sat there, staring at their broken lives, not making a single sound.

Without any discussion they started gathering stones from the creek and built a cairn over the mound of ash, piling the rocks as high as they could, fitting them carefully together in a perfectly round mound in the middle of the blackened patch. They worked silently from early morning until nightfall then, wary of further attacks, crept into the trees and fell exhausted to the ground, hidden from view, to sleep until the next morning. Neither of them could face going into the ransacked cottage, not until their family was properly honoured.

The next morning they rose to finish their task, Warren finding a large, flat slab of stone to finish their memorial with. He set it in place and Leila used one of her father's tools to scratch names into the stone: Darien, Scarlet, Serif and Delphina. Only then, once their work was done did they venture into the house to see what they could salvage.

The townspeople and farmers had taken what few valuables they had, and the two young wolves had no doubt that they found it as easy to justify the theft as they had the murder. Payment for the sheep they would have said, only fitting that the wolves pay for what they had stolen. None the less, Leila and Warren managed to each put together a bundle of clothing and blankets and find the little stash of money that their mother always kept hidden for emergencies. Then they left the cottage and walked away, leaving their ruined lives behind them.

Two days later they were running for their lives with hunters on their tails.

"Leila, I'll lead them off," Warren panted as they belted along the forest path many miles from their old home. "You hide, I'll circle back for you once I've lost them."

"No, I'm staying with you," Leila said, but even so, she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep up with him, she simply didn't have the speed or the staying power of her fully grown brother. She would fall behind, he would linger with her and they would both die. She would be responsible for his death as well as her own.

She was about to acquiesce when the arrow came out of nowhere. There was a hunter lurking in the trees. It hit Warren in the arm and went straight through, the cruelly barbed point cutting straight through the flesh of his arm and emerging a couple of inches out the other side. He let out a cry, half howl, half scream of pain, staggered and fell heavily to the ground. The hunter appeared from between the trees, grinning with satisfaction.

Rage took hold of Leila; she was not going to let this man kill her brother. All thought vanished as the wolf took over, her protective instincts strong as she leapt for his throat. A few moments later the hunter lay dead on the path, his throat torn out, and his blood on Leila's fangs. She spat out his blood and wiped her face on her sleeve, then turned to her brother as her fangs shrank back into normal canine teeth. He was on his knees, clutching at his arm, fingers wrapped around the thick wooden shaft still piercing his arm, blood oozing from between his fingers, his face twisted in pain.

"Come on, Warren," Leila said, pulling him to his feet, "We can't stay here."

She wanted to stop to tend his arm, but there were other hunters on their trail and if they didn't keep on moving they would be caught. She stooped to retrieve the hunters' knife then pulled Warren into a staggering run.

They moved as fast as they could but Leila knew that it was hopeless, Warren couldn't run fast enough. He was close to passing out, his face ashen with pain and shock and blood ran down his arm to drip onto the path, marking the trail. She had to find somewhere to hide him.

A gully beside the path proved a handy spot, hidden by brambles. She helped Warren down into it and slid down after him. They had maybe two or three minutes before the hunters came, more if they stopped to examine the one that she had killed.

She turned to examine Warren, who was slumped back against the muddy bank of the gully, his eyes closed, his face grey and tight with strain. Her movement rustle the damp, mildewed leaves at the bottom of the ditch. His eyes snapped open at the sound, so at least he was still conscious. Examining the wound she determined the best way to proceed and braced herself for what was going to be a painful and difficult task. Without anything to ease the pain, Warren was going to feel every single movement the arrow made; she hoped that she could be gentle enough.

Steeling herself, she snapped off the barbed tip of the arrow and drew the shaft out the way it went it as gently as she could, but even still Warren whimpered with pain. The arrow out, she tore the sleeve off her shirt and bound it tightly around the wound. It wasn't an ideal bandage, but it stopped the bleeding. Coldness gripped her heart, what if he died? What would she do then? How could she go on without him?

"Don't die, Warren," she whispered to him as he slumped against her shoulder. "I can't go on without you."

"Leila," he said weakly, "Leave me here, save yourself."

"No, you are family, and we wolves have to stick together, remember," Leila said. "We'll wait for the hunt to pass, then I'll get you some help."

She shut up as she heard people approaching on the path.

"The trail ends here," one of the hunters said, "It leads over there, to those bushes."

_NO_! Leila almost shouted.

The hunters hadn't passed by; they were coming straight for the wolves hiding place. A plan, she had to have a plan! Quickly she covered Warren with half rotten leaves and twigs than clogged the ditch, hiding him as best she could, then burst from the bush and took off running. All she could think about was leading them away from her wounded brother.

She surprised not only the hunters but also herself with her speed through the trees. She managed to get quite some distance before one of the hunters, lying in wait for her, stepping out from behind a tree to ambush her. He caught her around the waist and threw her to the ground, planting his foot firmly on her chest to keep her there. She glared up at him, trying to scratch at him with her nails, her eyes flashing yellow in her fury.

"Where's the other one?" he demanded, ignoring her feeble attacks.

Leila's chest heaved as she fought to regain her breath. She said nothing. The hunter pulled out his knife and crouched over her, pressing it against her throat, one knee firmly on her chest, pinning her to the ground. "You'd best answer me, bitch."

His presence frightened Leila badly. On the verge of womanhood she knew only to well what some men liked to do to girls they thought were helpless and at their mercy, and this one was straddling her body and holding her down in a most immodest and uncomfortable way. Half-wolf girls had often been the victims of gang-rape, used and thrown away without a second thought by the hot-blooded, hot-headed young bucks of towns and villages.

The young men got away with the attacks nine times out of ten because in the eyes of their society, wolves were not as important as full human, they were considered little more than animals and if they ever complained, the girls were blamed for disturbing the peace and provoking the 'fine upstanding young men of the town' with their animalistic ways. Now Leila was very, very scared that the same thing was going to happen to her.

"I can make your death very long and very painful. Where is the other one?"

"He's dead," Leila said, hoping that he would believe her, the terror that she felt churning just below the surface made her voice quiver and break, making her sound even younger. "The other hunter shot him, he died, I rolled his body into the gorse patch."

"Dead?" The hunter asked, and then grinned, "Good, that's one less we have to worry about. Now what am I going to do with you, I wonder?" He ran a finger down her cheek speculatively. Leila almost screamed but managed to hold it in and lay perfectly still. Any movement, any effort to resist could be considered provocation.

The other two hunters appeared through the trees. "We couldn't find the other one," one of them reported.

"No matter, he's dead," the hunter kneeling over Leila reported.

"So is Matthew, this one must have killed him. Kill her."

"No, that would be too easy," The hunter grinned down at her. "I know some people who would be very happy to get their hands on a pretty little wolf like this one. We'll take her to the 3rd Kingdom. The trolls are always in need of new slaves."

Leila's heart skipped a beat, one terror evaporating away to be relaced by another, even worse. The trolls? She would rather die. However the hunters gave her no choice in the matter. They roped her arms behind her back and tied her ankles to her wrists, holding her utterly helpless. One of them picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

_Warren_! Leila sent out her silent, desperate thought, _I'm sorry_!

The nearest town, a market town on the border between the 3rd and 4th Kingdoms, was two days walk away. She travelled the entire way slung over one or other of the hunters shoulders, the points of their shoulders digging into her belly and the rope around her wrists and ankles chafing and bruising her skin.

At night, when they set up camp, they simply dumped her on the ground, still bound and away from the warmth of their fires. Although it was still early in the autumn, the nights were starting to get cold and Leila shivered her way through those nights on the damp earth, her limbs going numb while the dew settled on her body. Without blankets or the warmth of the fire she became dangerously chilled and every morning it took a couple of hours in the warm sun to rouse her out of the cold-induced stupor of night.

When they reached the town, after two days of travelling, the hunters took her to where the indentured workers were being traded or hired out in the market square and plonked her on a platform. In less than an hour they had found a passing troll and within a matter of minutes and a purse full of gold Wendells, Leila became a slave of the troll kingdom.

The troll was in no mood to carry her as the hunters had done and cut her free. That in itself was a torture as blood rushed into the starved tissues of her hands and feet and cramped limbs were stretched for the first time in days. Her new master watched dispassionately as she writhed in agony, waiting for the spasms to subside, then bound her wrists together again, this time in front of her, attached a lead rope and set off with her in tow. At first she could barely walk, stumbling after him on legs that would not function properly, each step flaring agony from cramped muscles. She fell frequently, but her captor would not wait for her, dragging her along until he got tired of the weight and returned to kick her in the ribs until she got up again.

She fought her new master as he took her back to the troll kingdom, using every available opportunity to bite, kick and hit him, but he was bigger and stronger than she was, and every time she fought, he beat her. By the time they reached the Troll King's castle, she was battered, bloodied and bruised, but still defiant. The trolls imprisoned her in a set of stocks and pillories, holding her totally helpless, and ripped what remained of her shirt off, exposing her bruised but otherwise unmarked skin.

"Such a pretty little wolf," Relish, the troll king said as he pressed a branding iron against her shoulder blade, ignoring her screams of pain, "I'm going to have fun with you, I have three children who need to learn how to torture, and I think you'll do perfectly."

Leila's heart was thrown into darkest despair and for the next three years she endured torture, humiliation, starvation and abuse, but still the spark of defiance burned in the blackness of her soul and she made plans to escape.

Even now, when she was safe, her mind shied away from what had happened to her. She knew that she had blocked out those memories, but she had no desire to dig them up again, she didn't want to relive any of the last three years, all she cared about was the future and finding the brother she had been forced to abandon, wounded and dying in the forest.

"So you won't stay with us," Simon said when she had finished.

"I can't, Simon, I have to know what happened to my brother, I don't even know if he lives or not," Leila said.

"I understand," Simon said, "but please remember, you always have a home here, no matter what happens, we will welcome you back."

Leila smiled. She was so happy to have a friend who cared so much about her. "Thank you, Simon, but I don't intend to leave just yet."

"Good, then you can go and get some water and I'll start on dinner."


	7. Chapter 7 Homecoming

**Chapter 7. Homecoming**

Leila sat perfectly still on the moss-covered boulder, moving only to breathe, her eyes fixed on her target. The doe and fawn watched her warily across the glade. The doe stood equally still, her nose quivering slightly as she sought to determine if this person was dangerous or not. The fawn stood behind her, peering out from behind her mother's legs.

They had observed each other for almost twenty minutes in the golden light of evening, predator and prey assessing their positions. Leila had no intention of hunting tonight, the doe and her fawn were safe, but the dainty deer didn't know that. To deer all human shaped objects were to be considered dangerous.

Finally, after another five minutes of anxiety, the doe relaxed a little and stepped out of the trees and into the clearing. She was thirsty and her desire for water overcame her apprehension. The doe crossed the grass quickly, trotting down to the river edge, her fawn bouncing along behind her like a puppy on stilts. They drank, the doe keeping one carefully eye on the girl, then wandered back into the forest.

Leila sighed happily and gave herself a shake, loosening muscles held tense over the last half hour. She had been observing all the life around the glade since mid afternoon, watching as all manner of creatures went about their business between the trees and the water. There had been badgers, squirrels, birds by the score, an old dog-fox and rabbits cross within her sight. The rabbits had made her mouth water, but she had told herself sternly to leave them alone.

The fey had also come out as the day progressed towards evening. Sprites had flittered between the trees, a dryad had greeted her politely, and a brownie had sworn at her for kicking dirt in his front door. Leila hadn't seen the little wooden door set into the base of a tree between two roots. She had apologised and left the tiny creature sweeping out his entrance hall and muttering about clumsy big-folk under his breath. The forest was teeming with life and Leila revelled in being part of it once more.

She had had a wonderful day by herself in the forest as winter finally gave way entirely to spring. She had swum in the river which was running bank full from the last of the winter snow-melt, ducking and diving with the playful otters who came out to see who had invaded their territory, and dried herself on the grassy bank in the sun. She had run through the trees, roaming further than she had ever gone from Simon's little house and still found no trace of civilisation. There was no evil in this place, even where there was death. The forest was a living, breathing creature that understood and accepted the sacred, never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth without question. It was wonderful to feel so safe again.

She had been with Simon for nearly a full year now, having been washed up on his doorstep by the raging torrents of last years spring floods. It had been a wonderful year for both of them.

That night, as she lay in her bed in the corner of the old man's cabin, she found her mind wandering across the Kingdoms. She felt weightless, floating lightly on the slightest movement of air, a wonderful feeling of freedom that made her spirit self want to sing with joy. She watched the happenings far below her as she crossed lake and river, forest and meadow, mountain and plain. People went about their lives so peacefully, never knowing or caring what happened beyond their own little world.

It was some time before she realised that her drifting was purposeful, she was being drawn, gently by firmly west, towards the Troll's Kingdom. She tried to break away from her dream, not wanting to return in any possible way, but she could not. She watched helplessly as she was pulled towards the castle, the place where she had been imprisoned for four long years. At the base of the castle a figure was dodging and weaving from cover to cover, drawing ever closer to the broken down palace. Leila watched curiously and went closer. The figure grew larger and suddenly, as though alerted to her presence, turned around.

Leila jolted, Warren looked straight through her, a puzzled expression crossing his face briefly before he shook his head and returned to his careful study of the land before him. He was alive! Joy surged through Leila's entire being and an unbearable longing came over her; she wanted her only family back now that she knew he still lived. She reached out to him and tried to touch him, but her ephemeral hand passed straight through him. He must have felt something, though, as he flinched and glanced around again, this time showing irritation.

"Warren, it's me," Leila tried to say to him, "I'm here."

He did not hear her and ran to the next scrawny bush. Leila followed him. Why was he trying to get into the Troll's castle? His quiet words told her.

"I'm coming, Leila, just hold on, little sister," he whispered.

Leila jolted, jerking herself awake. She found herself back in Simon's cottage in the wilds, staring at the underside of the thatched roof. What had that been all about? She lay in the dark, a frown creasing her forehead as she thought. Finally she remembered, she was dreamfasting, sharing the pack-mind. It was a trait that all wolves had, a remnant of the days when they travelled, lived and hunted as a pack. All the pack mates had shared each others thoughts, living as part of a greater whole.

It was easy for full wolves to dreamfast, but for half-wolves it was more tricky, their human side got in the way. In order for a half-wolf to dreamfast, their human side had to be at peace, not throwing off negative emotions that would cloud their minds and hearts. Leila had not been able to dreamfast for the past four years. The time she had spent with the trolls was the epitome of negative and when tied with the barrier she had built around her heart so she could protect her inner being, formed an impenetrable wall.

That she could start to dreamfast again indicated that her human heart was healing and that the barrier was no longer needed. It had taken nearly a full year for her to find peace, to slough off the fear, despair and darkness that had consumed her and find enough light in the world to make that wall crumble.

In the darkness she smiled, Warren was alive, somewhere out there, and looking for her. She closed her eyes and before she drifted back into the gentle arms of sleep, she thought, _I'll find you Warren, we'll be a family once more_.

Leila shouldered her pack and took the staff Simon held out to her. She felt sad about leaving this lovely place, but she had things to do, she couldn't hide forever. She was now 16, almost 17 and it was time move on, find her brother and rebuild her life.

The time she had spent with the crazy old man had been some of the happiest she had ever spent. He had become the grandfather she had never known, and the father she had lost. They had worked together to work his tiny patch of cleared land during the spring, summer and autumn, and had spent long evenings by the cosy fire while the snow covered the ground outside in winter.

Simon had told her more stories than she had had ever heard, learned, he said, from all the parts of the Nine Kingdoms and beyond. That time of happiness had healed her body and her mind, and now she could face the world without fear and her past without shame. After all what had she to be ashamed about?

The best thing was that Simon simply accepted her for herself, he didn't fear or hate her, he simply learned to live her and her needs as she learned to live with him and his. She had even grown used to his long rambling conversations with himself and his tendency to talk both singular and plural at the same time. One of his personalities turned out to be a very good teacher and he had picked up her education where her mother had left it, honing her reading, writing and numbering skills as well as teaching her about the forest and the philosophies of life.

"Thankyou, Simon," she said, hugging the old man for the last time, "for everything."

"Just stay safe, Leila," Simon said, returning her embrace, "We're always here for you, if you want to return."

"Don't worry, I'll be back," she said, "I couldn't leave you all by yourselves now could I?"

It was a sad parting, but sweet as well. It was Leila's choice to leave, and she would be leaving Simon alive and well and in a house that was still standing. She wasn't being chased out, or forced away, this was her choice, and that made it so much easier. She gave the little forest clearing one last look, and firmly turned her back on it.

Simon's cottage was located on the border between the 4th Kingdom and the 2nd and it was into the 2nd that she was travelling. Somewhere in Queen Riding Hood's Kingdom was the house in the forest where her family was buried, and it was there that she was headed. It had been too long and she hadn't had a chance to say goodbye to them properly.

It took her many days of travelling to reach the forest where their house had been, but she managed. She travelled mostly by night, when all _respectable_ people were tucked up in bed and the only ones around were the wolves, the gypsies and anyone else who felt they had something to hide. During the day she denned up in any patch of cover she could find, a thicket, a rocky outcrop, a ruined castle, and slept the day away.

It was a nervous trip; wolves in the 2nd Kingdom required a permit to travel and the villagers and townspeople always looked upon anyone they believed a wolf with suspicion bordering on hatred. Leila thanked her stars that it was weeks until the next full moon and until then she could keep her wolfishness secret. Nonetheless she steered clear of most settlements and stuck to the woods.

Finally she reached the clearing in the forest and stood at the forest edge while memories washed over her. She almost turned and ran as her grief hit her anew, but she clamped down on her emotions and took her first step into the clearing.

The house was still there, but had mouldered and decayed with no one to take care of it and the garden had grown wild. In the middle of the clearing was the cairn, her family's burial mound. She went to it and laid a hand on smooth stone where her parents and sibling's names were carved. She frowned. The names were carved deeper than she remembered, the original rough lines cleaned up and formalized with a loving hand. There was other evidence that someone had come to the grave in the last three years as well. The whole mound carefully shaped, showed evidence of weeding and had bright wild flowers planted around the edge.

She walked around the mound and examined it, looking for clues. Whoever had been tending the grave had not been there in a while; there was no trace of scent left on the stone and a few weeds were poking out between the stone, but what she found was far better. A piece of slate, a roof tile that had fallen and been smashed to bits had been carefully wedged between two rocks. A message was scratched into the surface, a message from Warren. It was simple and poignant.

_Leila, my beloved sister. I don't know if you are alive or not, but every day I pray that you have found a place of safety, or found peace with the rest of our family. I only wish that I could find you again. Warren_

Leila hugged the message to her; Warren had been there a bare three months ago by the date, not long before she had dreamed of him in the Troll Kingdom. She prayed to the Great Mother Moon that he had escaped from their castle before they had caught him and was somewhere within the 9 Kingdoms, looking for her still. Hope flared in her heart, maybe she could find him; maybe they could reclaim what remained of their shattered family. She found a small piece of stone and scratched her own message into the slate, dated it, then laid the message back where she had found it.

_Warren, I am alive and searching for you. I intend to travel north into the 6__th__ Kingdom; hopefully I will find you there, if not I shall wander all the lands until I do. Leila_.

Maybe, just maybe, he would find it and then they would find each other again. She picked up her pack and turned away from the cairn. The 6th Kingdom lay to the north, a peninsula attached to the 2nd Kingdom by a narrow neck of land. There was only one way in and out of the Kingdom by land, and she didn't doubt that visitors would be noticed. Maybe, if Warren had gone there it would be relatively easily to find him. If not, well, there were 7 other Kingdoms to try. Then all she could do was to wander as far and as wide as she could, and see what she could see, ask questions and seek clues. She would find him- she had to find him.

Settling her pack on her shoulders she turned towards the west and the 2nd Kingdom, she would start there.


	8. Chapter 8 Banished

**Chapter 8. Banished**

Leila watched as the royal party passed by below her, beneath the rocky outcrop where she had taken refuge. She glared at the queen, riding regal and proud and arrogant at the head of the procession: there was a woman she had cause to hate. Queen Riding Hood the Third, grand-daughter of her most royal and detested majesty Queen Riding Hood the First, one of the great women of history and the bane of the wolf population. Red the Third had carried on her mother's work, creating a better world for her people, at least for her human people, and making sure that wolves and half wolves and friends of wolves were relegated to third place, behind farm animals.

At Red's side rode a girl, a few years older than Leila, dressed in the same outfit as her mother, the Crown Princess Rose, to be Riding Hood the Fourth when her aging mother passed on. Leila examined the girl intently for a time. She seemed like a nice enough girl, but who could tell what lay beneath a pretty face? She may hate wolves as much or more than her mother and grandmother did.

Leila made a face at the royals below her and slid down the back of the outcrop, out of sight, intending to make a quick get-away into the forest. Instead a large hand grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.

"Well, what have we got here?" a big voice asked.

Leila's heart suddenly went cold and she was thrown back five years to when the hunter had grabbed her, she could still feel his rough hands. She went wild. She hit out as hard as she could and kicked with all her might, but her captor simply held her at arms length, easily avoiding the blows and laughed.

"Easy, girl," he said, "Easy now, I'm not going to hurt you."

Leila got her first good look at the man; he was dressed in the crimson livery of the House of Red, his insignia showing his rank as Major. A soldier! Could this get any worse? She went perfectly still, she was too frightened to put up a fight against this big man.

"That's better," he said, "Now, what are you doing here?"

Leila thought as quickly as she could and stuttered, "I just wanted to see the Queen pass," she said.

"Really?" the Major said, "Well, I can believe that. For a moment there I thought you might be a spy." He laughed hugely at his own pathetic joke. "Well, if you want to see the queen, I think I can arrange that."

_Oh no!_ The last thing Leila wanted was to see the queen face to face, if she found out what Leila was and that she was travelling without a permit, as all wolves travelling in the 2nd Kingdom were required, she could have her imprisoned, or worse! "No, it's all right, I just wanted to see her pass, nothing more," Leila babbled, "I don't want to disturb her!"

"Nonsense," the Major said, putting her down and taking her arm firmly, glancing her over quickly in a desultory search for weapons. Leila carried no blades, she didn't need them, she had all the weapons she needed in her teeth. "Every girl wants to meet the queen," the big man said jovially, "Come along now."

Leila knew that she could break free, but only if she went wolf and tore his arm off, and that would do her even less good than seeing the Queen. At least if she behaved herself and acted normally she might be able to convince the Queen that she was fully human and nothing bad would happen. She peered quickly over her shoulder to make sure that her tail was properly hidden.

The Major escorted her around the outcrop and to where the procession had stopped for a rest. The Queen and the Princesses were sitting in state under a quickly erected red and gold awning attended by a bevy of servants. Leila wondered, as the Major took her through the lines of soldiers and servants, if she could fight her way free if the worst came to pass.

"Your Majesty," the Major said, bowing and taking Leila with him, "This girl wanted to meet you."

The queen extended a graceful hand, "I'm always pleased to meet my subjects," she said in a slightly bored voice. "Thank you, Major, you may go."

The Major bowed again and left Leila standing alone.

"Well, child, what's your name?" the queen asked. "And how old are you?"

"Leila, your Majesty," Leila said, trying to convince herself she was a farm girl who was eager to meet the queen. "And I'm 17."

The queen looked over her travelling clothes and pack. "You are a little young to be travelling on your own," she said, "Where are your parents?"

"They are dead, Majesty," Leila said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that," the Queen said, although her tone suggested she was only making polite conversation. "What were their names?"

Leila winced a little. She had hoped that the Queen would just greet her and send her on her way, not subject her to an interrogation. There was danger in the Queen's probing questions. "My mother's name was Scarlet and my father's was Darien," she replied, hoping that the Queen would not pick up on her father's lupine name.

The queen suddenly jolted and her bored expression was replaced by one of shock. "What did you say your mother's name was?"

"Scarlet, Majesty."

The queen waved her servant over, "Clear the area," she ordered, "I want to speak to this child in private. Rose, you stay here with me."

Leila's brown wrinkled in confusion. What was it about her mother's name that caused such as reaction? She had expected her father's name to cause problems. If the Queen found out her father was a wolf, she would be in trouble, deep trouble. But no, it was her mother's human name that caused the alarm.

When the area around the queen was cleared of anyone who may overhear the conversation, the Queen turned back to Leila. "Tell me how she died," she demanded.

Leila felt her world constrict around her. She had spent the last five years trying to come to grips with the death of her parents and siblings, and now this ignorant, unthinking queen was ripping away all the barriers she built around her treacherous heart. The injustice of it all, still strong after all the long years, burned inside her, yet she could not speak her grief out loud to this woman.

"She died in a fire," Leila answered, thinking_ house fire, the Queen will think it a house fire_. _Great Goddess, get me out of here!_

"Your father is also dead? And your siblings?" the Queen asked. "Your brothers and sister?"

Leila stared at her, how did she know that Leila had siblings? What was her intense interest in Leila's family? "My father also died in the fire, your Majesty, my brother and sister as well."

"What of your other brother? Which one survived? Warren or Serif?"

Beside the Queen the Princess was watching her mother in horror. The Queen was agitated, her regal air slipping with every question she asked, revealing herself to be human instead of the deity she liked to portray. Rose responded by blanking her face and staring out into the forest. She would ignore what was going on between the Queen and the scruffy little intruder until her mother came to her senses and sent the peasant on her way.

Leila, too, was confused. Why was the Queen interested in her family? How did she know them? She felt adrift here, uncomfortably aware that the Queen knew more of her family than she should, and that threw her off balance. She was on the defensive with every question.

"Warren survived, your Majesty," she said. "I lost him, I don't know if he lives or not. We were hunted; Warren was shot and I was…" she didn't want to take that any further, "I left him bleeding and unconscious under a bush, I don't even know if he survived," She looked the Queen right in the eye. She was about to take a plunge, a huge risk in revealing herself, but she had to know how the Queen knew her family and she had to regain some ground here. The Queen had too much control of the situation and Leila wanted to shake her, even if it meant her arrest for travelling without a permit, "They hunted us because we were half-wolves."

The Queen gave a sad little sigh. Leila was surprised, the Queen's hatred of wolves and, even more, half-wolves, was universally known. Leila thought that one revelation the Queen would have sprung the trap and had her buried under a pile of soldiers in moments. Instead she accepted it as though it was news she heard every day. Rose, on the other hand, who had been carefully staring into the forest shot Leila a startled look. A flash of disgust with a tiny seed of macabre curiosity hidden within it, crossed her face. Leila felt a small surge of satisfaction; at least she had got some kind of reaction from the stuck up Princess.

"I feared this would happen," the Queen said, "But Scarlet was always headstrong. I tried to convince her that it was foolish to go off with a wolf, but she wouldn't listen. Maybe if I had not got angry at her she might have stayed."

This was unexpected. "You knew my mother?"

"Yes. I thought that she was still alive and well. I had no word that she had died," Queen Red said.

"How do you know my mother?" Leila demanded, "Everyone knows that you hate wolves! Why would you be interested in one wolf-lover, no matter how they died?" She spoke with passion, not realising how provocative her words were until they were out of her mouth.

The Queen's eyes flashed in anger at being judged, "It is not your place to judge me," she said angrily, then took a deep breath before speaking in a more measured tone, "But I do own you an explanation. She was my sister. I'm not surprised she didn't tell you, we spoke rarely after she ran off with your father. She would send me letters every now and then, but many years passed between then, and I had no word of her death."

Beside her, Rose gasped in shock. "Mother, how can such a horrid thing be true?"

_Horrible_, Leila thought, _the word is 'horrible', _horrid_ is a child's word, designed to make adults think they are grown up_. Her opinion of the Crown Princess went down several notches.

"My daughter, there are paths your heart has not yet tread," the Queen said to Rose, "And until you start walking those paths you will not understand what makes people do what they do when they are in love. I did not approve of Scarlet's decision, she turned her back on her house, on her family and on her duty to the realm, running off with a grubby wolf, but I could not stop her." She turned back to Leila. "Yes, Leila; Scarlet, your mother, was my sister, and that makes you and Rose cousins, as much as I dislike the idea of having wolves in my family. I can mourn for her and offer you my sincerest regrets, but," and her voice grew harder, "This must not go any further than the three of us. I cannot allow my subjects to know about the disgrace that my sister brought upon our house. It would tear apart all that I have worked for."

"Never fear, Mother," Rose said, her voice thick with disgust, "I will never speak of this again. The disgrace to our family!" she looked as though she were about to throw up.

It was a rather overdone effect and had Leila not been so blinded by fury at the disrespect and scorn poured on her family that she might have laughed in the Princesses face. She had not expected a welcome, or wanted one, but this was going too far in the other direction. "Disgrace?" She asked, her voice dangerously quiet and quivering just a little from the rage that was building inside her, "You think that your sister, my mother, was a disgrace to _your_ family?" _How dare she!_ Scarlet, her beloved mother, a disgrace, never! Very well, if the queen wanted nothing to do with the wolves of her family, then the wolves wanted nothing to do with her.

When she spoke her voice was hard and tight as she struggled to control her temper. "My mother was the kindest, gentlest, noblest woman that ever lived, your Majesty. She loved my father dearly, my father, _your Majesty_, who was as kind, loving, gentle and thoughtful as she. He was a wolf, that is true, but there is nothing in what he was, or what I am, that is evil, or unnatural, or deserving of the treatment they got from the full humans.

"My mother brought no disgrace to anyone. If there is disgrace is rises from the way that you and your people treat the wolves. You treat us like criminals without every a shred of proof to back your claims. You are the disgrace, not my mother, and not me." She shut her mouth with a snap, horror rising in her stomach; she should not have said that. She waited, a cold, hard knot forming, as her aunts- the Queen's- face grew thunderous.

"Leila, you speak beyond your right," the Queen said coldly.

"Beyond my right!" Leila snarled, deciding that she no longer cared about the consequences. Someone had to tell this pompous Queen a thing or two, and if not her, then who? "I have no right to defend my family from attack? I don't care that you are the Queen, _you_ have no right to attack something you don't know or understand in so scornful and condescending a manner!"

The Queen held up her hand to silence Leila and then continued as though she had not spoken. "But in consideration to the memory of your mother and what you have suffered I will over look it, this time. However I cannot allow such talk or the connection that you represent to circulate around my Kingdom, it would cause untold damage." She contemplated the young half-wolf for a long silent moment and Leila knew that she was about to be judged. Indeed when the Queen spoke again it was as the Queen, the ultimate magistrate and monarch of the land, not as the sister of Leila's mother.

"Leila, you must leave this Kingdom and never return for as long as I live, and you must never speak of your kinship with the House of Red or our meeting to anyone, ever."

Leila felt that she had been punched in the stomach. She was being banished? Just for being Scarlet's daughter? What had she done to deserve this? "Your Majesty-," she started to protest.

"No," The Queen cut her off, "I cannot allow a wolf, or a half wolf, to be known as a member of the Royal House, I will not allow it. I am sorry Leila, but you must go into exile."

Leila drew herself up, incensed at the Queen's words. "And if I don't?"

"Then I shall have no choice but to have you imprisoned."

Leila suddenly felt all the energy drain from her. While it was true she didn't have strong connections to the 2nd Kingdom, it was where she had been born and raised and where her family was buried. If she were banished she would never get the chance to see the grave again, but if she was imprisoned… it was hardly any choice at all. "Very well," she said, "I will go, but I will be back, your Majesty, nothing will keep me from returning one day."

Rose, who had sat silently through the battle of wills gave a small smirk of satisfaction. Leila caught it out of the corner of her eye and had to clamp down very hard on her boiling emotions to stop from slapping the girl. They would come face to face again one day, that Leila promised herself.

"If you do, it will be at your own peril," the Queen said. She drew a purse from her robe, "Here, this will aid your journey, you have two weeks to leave the Kingdom."

Leila took the purse and weighed it in her hand. It was heavy and clinked softly as the coins inside slid over each other. For a moment she considered throwing it down and stepping on it in defiance, but that would only lead her into more trouble. Instead she hooked it through her belt and picked up her pack. "Very well. Goodbye, Aunt; Cousin," she nodded to each of them in turn, then turned and left, stalking away through the throng, seething with anger.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9. The Goddess**

Leila poked at her small fire, nudging the coals into a pile. She had found a gully in the side of a hill that was out of the biting wind, made a camp and built a makeshift hearth. The fire flared and burned a little brighter as the coals fed off each other, slowly turning to ash. Leila laid another piece of wood on the flames; it took quickly and filled the sheltered gully with warmth and light. All she had to do now was to keep it going all night, or risk freezing to death.

She was in the west of the 6th Kingdom, in a land of mountains and forests and people who spoke with a strange lilting accent. This part of the Kingdom was full of mysteries and magic of its own, so very different to anywhere she had ever been before; wild and untamed and brimming with history, magic and culture. Music seemed to be a huge part of that culture; everywhere she went there was someone singing or playing- beautiful, haunting tunes echoing through the glades and around the ancient oaks and pools. Leila wasn't sure if the singers and players were all human or not, since she rarely saw them, unless she passed through a town or village. But human or not, they didn't seem to mind her being there. The land was full of the fey, and to them, she was nothing out of the ordinary.

She had crossed the land bridge between the 2nd and 6th Kingdoms several months earlier, at the start of autumn. She had met guards at the border who were, at first, reluctant to let her past and seemed on the verge of arresting her before she thought to show them the purse adorned with a royal seal that the Queen had given her. Once they had seen that they let her through without any further questions. She doubted, however, that she would ever be able to get back into the 2nd Kingdom that way. She would have to find another.

She had wandered around the southern part of the 6th Kingdom, Sleeping Beauty's Kingdom for a couple of month, slowly working her way west, watching and listening for any news of her brother. She supplemented her coins by working at the autumn harvests by day, and sleeping in barns and byres by night before moving ever onwards.

Then winter had caught up with her. She had managed to wrangle a place to stay with a farmer, sleeping in his barn for a couple of weeks and helping out around the place in any way she could with the final autumn chores. Then he had found out that she was a wolf. He had found her one morning with blood on her teeth after her wild hunt the full-moon night before when she had run the hills and forests around the farm. She had assured him that she hadn't killed any of his sheep, but he had counted them carefully anyway, then politely but firmly asked her to leave.

So for the last four weeks she had wandered ever westward, getting thinner as the game went to ground for the winter, and wondering if she would manage to survive. Even the fey had disappeared, returning to the forbidden, magic places between the realms to sit out the winter in their great halls, or slipping into the sleeping trees, streams and rocks and pulling the snow over them until Spring brought the warmth of the sun back again.

She had money still, but few people in these wild lands accepted it, so she had been reduced to stealing bits here and there to fill her belly and sleeping in old barns and abandoned shepherds huts. She was grateful that her first benefactor had given her a warm blanket and told her to keep it as payment for her help, so long as she left. However the further west she went, the fewer farms there were, the less to eat and the fewer places to shelter.

Now she was here, in this hidden gully, an imperfect shelter at best. Below her the snowy landscape stretched away for miles in all directions, the rolling hills, fields and small patches of forest blanketed with a carpet of white. The sky was perfectly clear, the stars shining as bright as diamonds on a perfectly black piece of velvet. It was beautiful, and deadly. The temperature was dropping steadily in the hush.

Leila shivered and pulled her cloak and blanket around her, not so much from the cold, but from the thoughts of what would have happened if she hadn't found this nook to den in. Out in the open she would be dead by morning. To reassure herself, she moved a little closer to the fire. She had to keep warm until the moon rose, until then she was human.

She felt the heat of the fire, and then felt a stirring in her own body. Her blood was quickening, the full moon was about to rise. She rose from her seat and went to the entrance of the gully, a narrow passage that almost looked like it had been carved into the hill, and stared out towards the east and waited for the moon, her Goddess, the one who was ever constant in her life when all else was in flux. Leila always knew when She was coming, She stirred the blood in every wolf's veins, calling them back to the days where they had run free, unfettered by the laws of Men, creatures of the Wild.

Below her a silvery light suddenly changed the landscape from pale shades of grey to brilliant white and silver, almost, but not quite, showing colours and the great silver disk of the full moon appeared over the horizon. Leila dropped her cloak and spread her arms to welcome Her. Euphoric joy swept through her body, she threw her head back and howled out her welcome. All the fears, the uncertainties and anxieties that plagued her human self were thrust aside as she let the Wolf take over. She howled again and took off running down the slope.

She returned at moonset, warm from her run and the deer she had killed and eaten. Satisfied and warm she turned twice on her nest of blanket and cloak, curled up and went to sleep beside the glowing coals.

She was awake before dawn, roused by the cold. Her fire had burned down, leaving a pile of cold ashes. She shivered in the predawn chill and scratched through the coals, looking for a spark or coal that still had some life in it. Thankfully there was still one, buried deep where the dew could not damp it, and with a couple of feathered twigs and fibrous bark she managed to coax the fire to life again. While the moon madness had kept her warm for most of the night, she had used up almost all the warmth it had given her, taking the wolf away and leaving her human again.

Leila sat close to the fire, waiting for it to turn from the cool burning yellow to the redder, hotter flame and shivered. She hummed a little tune to herself, trying to drive away the incredible silence that pressed in on her. Usually silence didn't bother her, in fact it was something that she sought after, but today it felt different, as though the world was waiting for something.

To the east the sky was getting lighter. Dawn had almost arrived, dawn of the shortest day of the year: the Winter Solstice. Leila watched with wonder as the sun rose above the horizon and sent a beam of light straight down the gully she was camped in and into the heart of the hill. She turned and stared at the hill, somehow the light had revealed an opening that she hadn't found the day before, an opening that ran straight and true into the hill, and something in there was calling to her.

She rose, dropping her blanket and cloak, no longer feeling cold, and followed that beckoning call into the hill. The passage was perfectly straight with no turnings, but off to each side, every few feet, were alcoves or niches with ornately carved stone around them. There was nothing in the niches that Leila could see, but that, in her experience, didn't mean that there wasn't anything there.

She followed the path into the very heart of the hill where the passage opened up into a large chamber, obviously handmade, with pillars carved with the same interweaving patterns as around the niches. At the end of the chamber was a statue of some kind and when Leila moved to one side the dawn sunlight lit it brilliantly. The statue looked, at first glance when it stood in her shadow, grotesque and misshapen, crudely carved in a rough parody of a human figure, but when the sunlight touched it the statue glowed and change, becoming transformed by the bright sunlight.

It was a statue of a woman, but it seemed as though it has three faces and three bodies all in one. One was the face of maiden with flowing hair and a young, lithe body, gentle and innocent, a flower bud in her hand. The second face was revealed when Leila looked away for a moment, examining the rest of the chamber, before her gaze was drawn implacably back again.

The second face shown was that of a woman, kind and loving, with the nurturing look of a mother. Her body was mature and well built, not as lithe as the maiden, but with arms that seemed to reach out to hold whoever sought her comfort.

Leila frowned and deliberately glanced away before looking once more on the strange statue. The statue changed again. The third face was a much sterner woman with the harsh look of a warrior. The set of her jaw and the determination in her steely eyes spoke of her nature. She would not accept failure, she would not accept defeat, she would not accept anything other than victory, or death. Her creed was honour and glory. In her hand was a drawn sword and she looked as though she knew how to use it.

Leila went down onto one knee. She knew she was in the presence of great power, power that stretched back to the dawn of time, a wild and dangerous time, so very different from the world of the here and now. This chamber, this temple of the old ways was a remnant of that bygone time, but one that still held power.

"The three-fold goddess," Leila said softly, her voice echoed back at her from around the chamber. "Why have you brought me here, ancient one?"

The face, when Leila looked up into it, was the face of the Mother, the nurturer and healer. "_You have suffered much, young wolf_," the voice whispered in her mind, "_But it has not been without purpose_."

"What purpose could there possibly have been, Mother, for killing my family and having me sent into the clutches of the troll?" she asked bitterly.

"_To give you strength_," the goddess whispered, this time in the voice of the Warrior. "_There will come a time when you will need to be strong, not only for yourself, but for all whom you love as well. You have undergone a trial of fire, and you have emerged victorious. You have been tempered in the forge and you are now ready_."

"Ready for what?"

"_To unite the wolves and the humans_."

"When? Sooner, later?"

"_Time has little meaning_," the Maiden said, "_But you will know what you have to do when the moment is right_."

"What about my brother?" Leila asked, the question had burned on her heart for years, "Is he still alive?"

"_Yes_," the mother said. "_Listen_."

Leila frowned. What did that mean? What came hit her like a hammer blow, knocking her down. A wave of despair, of terror and of overwhelming anguish. She gasped and doubled over as the wave hit her. She identified it in an instant, Warren. Hauling herself into a sitting position she struggled to separate herself from the irresistible drag of her brother's emotions. For a moment she thought she would fail, his fear and hopelessness was so very strong, but she felt the ghostly touch of three hands on her and drew strength from that ethereal contact, wrenching herself away while still holding onto the thread that linked them together. She took a deep breath and followed the thread back, soaring over the blurred landscape.

_Warren, I'm coming_, she thought. _H__old on, brother, I'm nearly there_!


	10. Chapter 10 Arrest

**Chapter 10. Arrest.**

Warren sighed happily as he drowsed in the warm hay, somewhere between sleeping and wake. He was warm, he was comfortable, his belly was satisfyingly full and he had no inclination to move. He wriggled into a new position and opened a sleepy eye. Both eyes shot open a moment later and he sat bolt upright as he came face to face with the tattered remains of a sheep carcase. Frantically he looked around the barn at the remains of what had been a small flock of fine merinos as memories came flooding back.

Last night had been a full moon and he had run wild with moon madness through the snow until he had come to this outlying farm on the edge of a small village. He had been very hungry as it had been many days since he had managed a decent hunt, and the smell of all those sheep, closed up in a barn over winter had triggered all his deepest hungers. He had gorged himself on the sweet, tender meet and curled up in the soft, inviting hay to sleep off his meal

Now he was staring the consequences right in the face. When the farmer came in as he was sure to do, and found his prized flock dead, there would be hell to pay. He had to escape and fast. Warren scrambled to his feet and raced for the door.

Just as he reached the barn door a stocky man, just over the hump of middle age, hauled it open from the other side. He was well dressed and respectable looking and without a doubt the man in charge here.

The two of them stared at each other in shock and surprise, both frozen by the unexpected meeting. Then the farmer's eye slid over Warren's shoulder to the carnage beyond and his face showed horror, disbelief and then rage all in the space of a split second, then he screamed. "WOLF!" he bellowed, "WOLF!!"

The shout jolted Warren out of his trance. _Oh cripes_! He thought and looked around for a way out. The farmer was blocking the door and behind him more people were running towards the barn. There was no exit that way. Warren backed away, searching for a way before the farm hands arrived and… he didn't even want to finish that thought.

A light above caught his eye- a loading window from the hayloft. Warren lunged forward with a snarl that made the farmer curse and stumble backwards, while the wolf feinted to the left, towards the ladder that led up to the hayloft. He started to scramble up it, but he felt something close around his ankle. The farmer had managed to grab hold of him and was hauling back with all his might.

Warren grabbed the rungs of the ladder and kicked out as hard as he could. His foot connected with something which grunted and the pressure was gone. Without looking back he climbed the rest of the way and rolled into the hayloft. He paused and glanced over the side. The farmer was lying on the floor, his hands clutching his face, moaning softly. A younger version of the same man ran into the barn and immediately went to his father who pointed up with a bloody hand, straight at Warren. The young man glared up, his eyes meeting Warren's and flaring with fury.

Warren ducked back and quickly shoved the ladder away. It wouldn't delay pursuit long, but hopefully long enough for him to get away. There was a pulley and a rope on the end of a girder above the window and it was the work of a moment to slide down to the ground. An instant later he was off and running across the crisp, white, freshly fallen snow and for a moment he thought he was free. He was proven wrong a split second later when a stick, thrust across his path from behind the farms stone outer fence tangled his legs. He went down heavily, the breath knocked from his body. The farm hands were on him in a moment.

He tried to rise but a hail of blows knocked him down again. An overwhelming fear and desperation to escape filled him, his heart pounding and his head filled with a buzzing as the last remnants of the moon madness gave him extra strength. He threw off his attackers and ran for the open fields and the promise of freedom, but it was not to be. One of the farm hands had brought a net and threw it over him before he could take three steps, bringing him crashing down again as he was tangled in the mesh.

Warren tried to curl himself into a ball to protect himself from the fists, boots and farm implements that slammed into him, but the net stopped him. Pain flared across his torso as boots, swung as hard as possible, slammed into his ribs. He wondered, in that small part of his mind that held on to rational thought, if they had broken any of his ribs; to get away without them breaking would be a miracle. The butt of pitchfork slammed into his head, his vision swam and darkness rose around him, but did not overwhelm him, leaving him painfully aware of the hurt in his chest and shoulders and the blood that ran from a gash on his temple. His world shrank into a tight sphere of pain and terror, all rational thought was gone; all that remain was physical sensation and roiling emotion.

The farmers continued to beat him long after he had stopped moving, leaving him almost unconscious and swimming in a sea of darkness and pain. Black and blue bruises were already forming on his skin and his blood was bright red against the white snow. Finally they bound him up in the net and dragged him two miles into town behind a carthorse, a long trail of blood drops left in the groove made by his body.

The snow covered country lane changed to hard cobbles and Warren picked up a new set of bruises as he was bounced along. As they hauled him through town the people came out to jeer at him and throw stones, rotten vegetables and anything else they could get their hands on. Warren barely noticed until they reached the town square. There was a pit in the middle of the square with a grate over the top of it and it was into this that they hurled him, after unwrapping him from the net. He landed on his side at the bottom. Agony flared through his battered body and he blacked out.

What could have been hours or days later a torrent of icy water was dumped into the pit and Warren came to spluttering and coughing. The grate was open above him and a ladder lowered in. Warren blinked owlishly at it, still dazed and barely comprehending what was going on around him.

Four men were waiting around the rim of the pit. One of them was holding a length of rope. They were framed by the bright sky and Warren had to squint to see them. One of them motioned upwards, his gesture impatient. "Out, animal," he said.

Warren shook his head as four people turned briefly to eight. They wanted him to climb the ladder? He doubted he could even get to his feet without help.

"I said out, wolf," the man snarled again.

Warren flopped back onto the hard, cold, dirty pit floor, maybe they would go away and leave him alone. He wanted to sleep.

"It's no good, you'll have to go get him," the man said.

"Why me?" a second man asked plaintively.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of him," the first replied with a sneer. "He's a pathetic, mangy animal."

"He's also a wolf."

Warren heard the fear in the man's voice. They were afraid of him? Any other time he would have laughed, but now he felt too sick to even smile.

"Look, at the moment he can't climb the ladder, he probably can't even stand by himself. I hardly think he's going to be able to hurt you- you're bigger than he is. We need to get him out for his trial." The first man was rapidly loosing patience.

_Trial_? Warren thought, they were actually going to give him a trial? What an honour.

"He could be shamming."

"Just get down there, or I'll throw you down," the first finally snapped.

Grumbling, the chosen man descended, his heavy boots thudding to ground in front of Warren's face.

"Up, wolf," the man said.

Warren turned his head away and closed his eyes. He hurt so much he simply wanted to die, he longed to sleep in the soft, warm earth. His mind started to swim as he drifted once again towards the warm, embracing darkness.

"I said up!"

A boot slammed into Warren's side, jerking him awake as agony flared across his body, cracked ribs and bruised muscles screaming at him. He tried to move away, but couldn't.

"Oh for the love of God," the man said, "Pass down the rope."

The man drew Warren's hands together and tied his wrists, then hauled him to his feet. The man shook Warren until his eyes opened. "You're going up there, wolf, even if we have to drag you out."

Warren stirred himself. Being hauled up and over the lip of the pit would be pure torture. He swallowed against the shooting pains and with the man shoving from behind and the others hauling on the rope from above, managed to climb out of the pit and into the grey light of an overcast winter's day.

Once out he was escorted without any regard for his injuries, through the square to the town hall. All along the way people were shouting, heckling and jeering as the constables escorted the battered and bloody wolf through the street to the town hall, converted for this occasion into a court house.

As if in preparation from the inevitable verdict there was a post set up in the middle of the square surrounded by bundles of wood. Warren balked at the sight, memories of another bonfire and four charred bodies springing to mind. He was shoved in the back, the rough jarring jolted his injuries and almost sent him to his knees, but he managed to stumble forward without falling and at last entered the court.

There wasn't a dock as such, but something like a hitching post was set in the middle of a large open space and it was to this that Warren's hands were bound. All the townsfolk gathered around the perimeter of the hall and watched eagerly, exchanging whispered comments. Warren caught a couple as he waited, the cold knot in his stomach growing colder and tighter with every passing moment.

"The circuit magistrate is taking the case," one man said to another. "I hear that he hates wolves."

"I reckon the verdict is pretty much given," another said. "There'll be a nice fire in the square this evening."

"Do y' think the magistrate would let me have his tail, as a trophy?" a third exchange reached Warren's ears.

"Nah, I hear the magistrate collects 'em."

"Does he cut it off before or after they're dead?"

"Before, o' course, otherwise they'd be all scorched and smoky."

Warren closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

"All rise," the bailiff called. Silence fell.

Warren's eyes snapped open. An old man dressed in the immaculate black robes and long wig of a judge came in with a folio under his arm. He sat down at the table in front of Warren, put round spectacles on the end of his nose, opened the folio before glaring severely at Warren.

"What is your name, wolf?" he asked harshly.

Warren stared blankly at him for a moment. Had he just been asked a question? He couldn't think properly.

"I said, what is your name?" the judge thundered.

"W-Warren," Warren stuttered, "Warren Wolfson."

The judge sat back and looked at him over his glasses. "This wolf stands accused of the following charges," he said solemnly, "Breaking and entering, sheep rustling, theft, assault and travelling without a permit."

Warren's mind went from sluggish to over-drive as the last charge struck him and the fury and injustice that dogged his whole life over-rode the pain in his body and fuzziness in his head, "Wolves are only required to have a travelling permit in the 2nd Kingdom, not the 4th," he said angrily.

"And contempt of court," the magistrate added harshly. "How do you plead?"

Reckless bravado flared in Warren. They were going to kill him anyway, so what could he lose by speaking his mind? "I have nothing but contempt for this court. You have already made up your mind about me, as you have with every other wolf and half wolf," he said passionately, "You fear us and hate us with no reason, you drive us to the very edges of your 'respectable' society and never give us a chance to make an honest living, then wonder why we have to turn to theft to feed our families. You talk of contempt, better to hold yourself in contempt for what _you_ have forced the wolves to become before you start accusing us. Just get this farce of a trial over and done with."

Warren ran out of words and breath at the same time. He gazed around at the faces surrounding him and knew that his impassioned speech had meant nothing to them. His anger and passion drained out as he surveyed the impassive faces, leaving him exhausted and resigned to his inevitable fate. "Why did I even bother," he muttered to himself.

"Since the accused as waived the right to legal representation," the magistrate said after a lengthy pause in which he took off his glasses and cleaned them, his manner suggesting that Warren's words had soiled them in some way, "we will move on. Call the first witness."

Four witnesses came and went in rapid succession, each giving their elaborate version of what had happened. Warren couldn't deny that he had killed the sheep, he couldn't remember it well but the evidence had been undeniable, however the stories the witnesses put forward were exaggerated well beyond belief. If Warren had killed and eaten as many sheep as were reported, he wouldn't be able to move for a month, and he had been more concerned with getting away from a very fit and dangerous man of advanced years than committing an act of horrific murder on a frail and helpless old man. Despite the absurdity of the evidence Warren couldn't bring himself to protest, there was no point in battering himself against the wall of their scorn and disbelief.

It was over very quickly. The verdict was expected, but the sentence was not. The magistrate leaned forward and spoke. "Warren Wolfson, you are found guilty on all charges," he intoned, "It is the judgement of this court that you should be taken from this place to the Snow White Memorial Prison where you will be incarcerated for a period of no less than 120 years, 20 for each of the five charges and an extra 20 for contempt of court."

Warren's heart suddenly turned to lead and plummeted into the pit of his stomach. A death sentence would have been bad, but imprisonment was worse, far worse. To be confined within four walls, to be denied the sun and moon and sky, to be denied freedom, to be chained and bound. That, for a wolf, was worse than death.

"Until such time as you are transported to the prison you will be held in the custody of the township," the magistrate said and banged his gavel on the bench, "the case is closed."

Warren's knees buckled and he slumped to the floor. His head was spinning and his mind was spiralling down into a black pit, his heart following close behind. His vision blurred as salty tears welled up and spilled over to trickle down his cheeks, leaving trails through the grime on his face. He was plunged into a pit of absolute despair so quickly that he didn't even have time to howl.

Someone cut his hands free and hauled him to his feet. Three hard looking men marched him out of the court and to the smithy across the way. For a moment he considered running, but one of the men was armed with a cross bow and he looked skilled enough to bring him down without killing him and he would then have to endure imprisonment as a cripple. That had even less appeal.

The smith was a huge, unsympathetic looking man who took one look at Warren and pointed to an anvil close by. Warren's guard forced him to his knees, no great struggle, and placed his hands on the anvil. For one horrified moment Warren thought they were going to chop his hands off, but instead the smith brought over a set of manacles and closed the hinged iron bands around his wrists. He then pulled two rivets, glowing red hot, from the forge and used them to seal the cuffs. The heat from the rivets quickly travelled through the iron and threatened to burn Warren's skin, but the smith dumped cold water over the iron before they could get too hot.

Warren stared in disbelief at his hands, constrained now by heavy chains that could not be removed by anything less and a mallet and chisel. The men thanked the smith and pulled Warren to his feet by the chain.

"Make the most of the warmth, wolf," one said, "It's the last you'll get for a long time."

They returned him to the cold, damp pit and shoved him down into it with scant regard for his injuries as he hit the ground below. They closed and locked the grate and left for the warmth of the tavern.

Warren lay where he fell for a while, agony from his broken ribs shooting through his body. After a while he pulled himself painfully up a sit with his back against the wall. He drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them and started to shake, partly with cold, but mostly with the pent up strain of what had happened in a single day.

"_You have failed_," a voice said, seemingly beside him.

Warren turned, but there was no one there.

"_You have failed_," the voice said again, it sounded distinctly like his mother, "_You should have protected you brother and sisters, but you let two of them die and lost the third, left her alone in the cold world, a child, all by herself_."

"No!" Warren protested, "I tried, I really did. I tried to protect them all."

"_And you failed_," this time it was his father, "_You all but threw them on the fire yourself. It was your duty and you failed. You betrayed them, you betrayed us_."

"I saved Leila," Warren said feebly.

"_Saved Leila_!" his mother scoffed, "_You allowed her to be sold into the hands of the trolls and you didn't even try to save her_."

"I did try, I did! I didn't know what happened to her, and when I found out I went into the Troll Kingdom to look for her, but she was already gone when I got there."

"_You weren't fast enough. Three years it took you to get to finding her, three years in the hands of the trolls_."

"But she's still alive! I think…. I don't know!" Warren wailed, uncertainty, guilt and despair whirled inside him as the voices shouted at him.

"_Failure! Betrayer! Murderer! Thief! Liar! FAILURE_!"

The worst thing was he knew they were right. He should have protected them, he should have rescued Leila, he should have tried harder. He curled himself up in a ball and howled his grief, his loss, his fear, despair and desperation aloud while his thoughts rattled off into incoherence and his demons screamed at him.


	11. Chapter 11 The Curse

**Chapter 11. The Curse**

Leila's consciousness flew along the dream-link that attached her to her brother, flashing over snowy landscape, blue seas, rugged mountain peaks and dark green forests. She saw none of what she crossed, and wouldn't be able to identify it from the ground even if she had taken notice, the dreamscape and the real world were subtly different. She could feel Warren's fear, terror and anguish growing stronger as she neared him, she could feel the pain in his heart and his body almost as strongly as if it had been her own. She didn't know what had caused such fierce emotions, but whatever it was battered at her like a storm.

"Hold on, Warren," she said, her dream-voice echoing weirdly and sending back strange harmonics, "I'm almost there."

She was nearing him when she heard the first scream. At first it was right on the edge of her hearing and with her mind so firmly fixed on her brother she didn't notice, but soon the sound grew and swelled into a mighty chorus from the pits of hell, voices screaming and shouting abuse. She faltered, the voices beating on her soul until she felt like screaming herself.

"No!" She screamed back at them, "You won't beat me! My brother needs me, and I will go to him!"

"Foolish child," a soft female voice said, as cold as ice and as hard as steel, "He is ours now and you will never take from us what we have claimed."

"He is my brother, he is my pack," Leila returned, "My ties to him are stronger than yours will ever be."

"You may have a tie to him in spirit, but you will never find him in body," the demon said, flittering around Leila, touching her hair, her face and her spirit image with cold, sharp fingers, "I will confound your steps, no matter where you go, no matter how close you get to him, you will never find him, not until the day you die."

"But why?" Leila demanded, "Why do you want him so much?"

"I have use for him," the she-demon said, "He is a half-wolf, caught between worlds, a perfect tool for my plans."

"I am a half-wolf too," Leila said, "If you are going to take anyone, take me!"

"You are already claimed," the demon whispered in her ear, "I can see Her mark on you, protecting you. Her powers have weakened over time as the people have turned away from Her, but She still has some strength, and She knows how to use it."

"The Three Fold Goddess," Leila whispered.

"Yessss!" the demon hissed, "The Three Faced Bitch! She has claimed you, so I must use another, your dear brother. It will be a fine vengeance on her, and on you."

"No!" Leila shouted at her, "You will not take him."

"Stop me if you dare," the demon laughed and whirled away on the winds, her cackle of laughter drifting back to the young wolf.

"Oh, I will stop you," Leila said, and soared on, following the dream-link.

She had almost reached him when she slammed into a barrier. She hit it so hard that it rattled her senses, no small feat on the dream plane, and she stopped, shaking her head and trying to keep a grip on her wavering wits. The barrier, when she examined it, was rock hard and perfectly smooth without a chink or a gap anywhere, and it was around Warren's heart. Leila threw herself at the barrier, trying to batter it down, but even her greatest effort made no impact.

"Warren, what have you done?" she whispered, running her hand over the barrier, it was ice cold and frost was forming on it. She could see Warren inside, his spirit image blurred and wavering, but could not reach him.

Wolves only erected a heart barrier in the most desperate of circumstances to protect themselves from those who sought to harm them emotional, except in so doing they stopped anyone who might love them and want to help from reaching them too. She had encased herself in one when in the trolls clutches to protect herself from their abuses and maintain her sanity but had managed to break it down again when she had escaped, and with Simon's patient help she had learned to love and trust again. Warren, she feared, would have no such reprieve wherever they, whoever they were, were taking him.

"Hold on, Warren, demon's curse or no, I will find you," Leila whispered to the curled figure within, "And I will free you from her, no matter what it takes."

Reluctantly she followed her own silvery lifeline back to her body, lying on the floor of the hidden temple. She shivered as she slipped back into her corporeal form, it had grown cold while she had been out of it. She sat up and clutched her spinning head.

"_The witches curse is strong_," the Maiden said.

"You knew?" Leila asked, "You knew about the demon, the witch?"

"_Yes_," the Maiden said, "_We had hoped that you would reach him before she did and give him the strength to fight her off_."

"But I failed," Leila said, "And now my brother is going to suffer because of it. How can I possibly fight against this witch?"

"_She is an ancient evil_," the Warrior said, "_Her powers stretch back through time and space, in both this world and the other. She is without body at the moment and thus her power is weakened, but she, like us, still has her power and knows how to use it_."

"_She also has the benefit of the Nameless One's power_," the Mother added, "_He lends her His strength and His minions and with them at her command, she is indeed a danger_."

"And what role is my brother to play in this?" Leila asked. She didn't need to ask who the Nameless One was, she had seen His influence in her life more often than she would ever wish.

"_That we cannot foresee_," the Mother said, "_The future is not yet written, there are many paths and each leads to a different destination_."

"So how can I save Warren and do what you want me to do?" Leila asked.

"_You have the weapons already within you_," the Maiden said, "_We can protect you, be your shield, but the weapons are yours and you must learn how to use them before you confront her_."

"Will there be a confrontation?"

"_There must if you wish to save your brother_."

"I was afraid you would say that," Leila sighed. "Guide me, protect me, and I will do your bidding," she promised.

"_First you must find him_."

"Where is he?"

"_We cannot tell. In the same way that we protect you from her sight, so she protects him from ours_."

"So I wander until I find him?"

"_Yes, go out into the world, seek him out, we will follow your every step_."

Leila pushed herself to her feet. She felt a little resentful that all this had descended upon her in one day without having a say, but Gods were like that and she had no real reason to complain. "I will go as your emissary," she said.

"_Go with our blessing_."

The sun moved away from the gully and the temple fell into darkness. Only Leila's excellent night vision allowed her to see the beautiful statue of the goddess turn once more into a crude icon of roughly carved stone. She left the temple and stepped out into the sunlight. The light gleamed bright off the snow, blinding her momentarily until her eyes adjusted. She gathered up her gear, put the fire out and stepped out into the world, certain of her purpose.


	12. Chapter 12 Lucius

Chapter Notes 

This chapter, as well as the last few, deal with Celtic mythology more than the fairy tale world of the Brothers Grimm. The fairies of the Welsh, Irish and Scottish traditions are certainly nothing like the traditional, Victorian image of little girls with butterfly wing. These fairies, or feyries as should be called, are scary.

I have already mentioned the Three Fold Goddess who turns up in may guises throughout Celtic mythology. She is almost always divided into three aspects representing the three stages of a woman's life- the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. Below are a few of the names by which each aspect is known and what they are associated with:

**The Maiden**- Elaine andBlodeuwedd (both Welsh). The Maiden is the goddess of Earth in bloom, flowers, wisdom, lunar mysteries and initiations.

**The Mother**- Margawse and Arianrhod (Welsh) and Badb (Irish). The Mother is the goddess of beauty, fertility, reincarnation. She is honoured at the full moon. In Ireland she is associated with the cauldron, crows and ravens. Life, wisdom, inspiration and enlightenment are her domain.

**The Crone**- The White Lady (all Celtic religions), and simply The Crone. In all her aspects she represents death, destruction, winter. **The Warrior** is another aspect of the third stage of life and has been called the Morrigu, Morrigan orMorgan, and is the supreme war goddess.

Most other Celtic fey are scary beasts. Some steal away children either to become wives or husbands of fey-folk such as the Bendith Y Mamau and the Tylwyth Teg, or food for hideous creatures like the Black Annis.

Harbingers of death are also common in Celtic mythology. Some of the creatures are know as Cwn Annwn (hounds of the underworld), the Bean Nighe (the Washerwoman at the Ford) and Gwarach-y-rhybin (the Banshee).

Other creatures include huge ghostly dogs and cats, really nasty critters like Red Caps, Dunters and Powries, and Will o' the Wisps in many forms and with many names, including Ellylldan quoted below.

There are some friendly or helpful fey as well, such as the Coblynau, known in Cornwall as the Knockers, friendly mine spirits, and the Glastig, a Scottish spirit who could sometimes be trusted with children while mothers were milking the cows.

This has been only a brief superficial look at a tiny portion of the extensive and complicated mythology of the Celtic UK and please, if I have either got something really wrong or not included all the relevant details, don't flame me but drop a little note through the message tool.

If you want to know more, there is heaps of information out there on the net. Have fun researching, I know I did.

**Standard disclaimer**: Don't own, don't make any profit, am not an academic source to be quoted and only use the 10th Kingdom characters, gods, goddesses and other fey to help the story along.

On with the story.

**Chapter 12. Lucius**

Leila swung along at a steady pace that ate up the miles, enjoying the quiet and freedom of the woods. Winter had turned to spring as she made her way rapidly out of the western wildlands, waking the land from its long slumber. The trees had sprouted, throwing forth bright green leaves to catch the strengthening sun, with the dryads singing their songs in praise of new season and the Great Mother Earth. Other fey had awakened as well, some good, some not so good. The fey and the humans of the wildlands interacted on occasion, and those interactions could be beneficial or harmful to either party.

Two weeks had passed since Leila had stayed overnight in the barn of a human family who had suspected their new child was a Crimbil, a changeling left by the Bendith Y Mamau, small, ugly pixies who stole human children to improve their own bloodlines. Leila could smell a pair of them lurking around the house of the young couple with the month old baby, and had reassured the worried mother that while her child was still fully human, she had better take precautions to keep the pixies out. Leila had then hunted down the Bendith Y Mamau and told them quite emphatically to stay away from child.

At first the two pixies fervently denied that they had designs on the child, but Leila, knowing how tricky and unreliable the fey could be, pushed them for an oath to bind their promises. When she had demanded that they swear in the names of the Three Fold Goddess, all their resistance collapsed and they surrendered easily. That left Leila somewhat startled, she had not known that her connection to the Goddess would command such respect among the fey. The two Bendith Y Mamau made their promises and slunk away very contritely.

The humans had been so grateful for her help that they restocked her dwindling food supply and gave her a knitted scarf of the softest wool from their first-shorn lambs. Leila had been hard pressed to suppress her desires when she had passed the sheep fold between the house and barn and left the next day despite the offers for further accommodation. She doubted that she would be able to restrain herself and eating their precious sheep would be a poor reward for their hospitality.

Leila had also run into other fey since mid winter. She had almost been seduced into following an ellylldan, a ghostly, pale fey with malicious intent, into a treacherous bog deep in a forest, but managed to scare it away by flashing her wolf-eyes at it. She had also met a small tribe of coblynau, cheerful little spirits, in a long abandoned mine in which she had sheltered from a late winter storm. They had spent the day and night of the storm regaling her with tales from the days when the mine was still worked by humans while plying her with ancient cider left over by the miners. It had been powerful stuff and she had had a terrible hang over the next day, but remembered the party with fondness.

She had not, however, found any sign of Warren.

Leila was convinced that Warren had not come to the 6th Kingdom and certainly not to the western wildlands. The fey would have remembered him. Now she had to return as quickly as she could to 'civilization' and look for him among the human settlements. If she found no trace of him in the lands ruled over by the descendents of Sleeping Beauty, she would have to make her way back south, into the 4th Kingdom.

That in itself was a problem. But for a narrow neck of land between the 2nd and 6th Kingdoms, Sleeping Beauty's Kingdom was entirely isolated from the others, and it was not yet time to tempt her aunt, Queen Riding Hood's, resolve by entering her land. Leila was under sentence of banishment from the 2nd Kingdom and if she was found in there she would be imprisoned or killed without hesitation. The question nagged at her, how was she going to get back to the continent?

While she pondered that question, she enjoyed her walk through the fresh, green forest. Spring had brought an abundance of wild flowers to carpet the forest floor and their scent was almost enough to send her as silly drunk as the coblynau cider had. She danced along happily, revelling in freedom and life and growth. Answering the question of how to get back to the continent could wait, today she would enjoy spring. There was a river near by, she could smell the free flowing water, and quickened her pace a little, it was a warm day for mid spring and she could do with a swim.

As she neared the river she heard a cry of terror and panic. It sounded like a child. Without a second thought Leila launched into a sprint, dodging trees, vaulting bushes, ducking under low hanging branches. She was about to burst out of the woods and into the open fields next to the river when she slowed. She was just in time to see a man dive into the river; she paused just inside the tree line to watch what happened.

The man swam strongly, battling the strong current to reach the child who was clinging to a piece of drift wood and screaming its head off. The man seized the child and would have hauled it back to shore but it wouldn't let go of the log.

"It's all right," the man said soothingly, "I won't let you drown, you can let go of the log now and hang on to me."

The child gave him one terrified look and transferred its death grip from the log to around the man's neck. The man spoke calmly to the child and got it to float on its back while he towed it to shore. He hauled it up on the bank where it, a little girl, as it turned out, collapsed in a dead faint. The man sprawled beside her, his chest heaving as he fought to get his breath back. It was then that Leila saw his tail, a fine, silver grey brush that went with his dark hair and wolfish features perfectly. When he had regained his breath he bent over the child, checking her for any damage.

A woman ran down the path beside the river towards them, yelling incomprehensibly at the top of her voice. The child coughed and woke up crying. The wolf heaved a sigh of relief and turned to the mother, smiling reassuringly. She swung a heavy stick she had snatched up from beside the path, catching him full on the side the head and sending him sprawling, half conscious, away from child.

"Get away from her, you filthy beast!" the women screamed at him.

Only the child's weak sobbing saved him from another blow. She turned to her child, gathering the little girl up in her arms while the wolf struggled to his knees, still dazed, with blood pouring from the gash on his head.

Other people were running along the path towards them, calling queries.

The mother took the child in her arms and ran towards them, "He tried to kill her, he tried to kill my Molly!" she yelled hysterically, "He threw her in the river and when I got here he was going to kill her."

Leila bit back an exclamation of disgust. _Typical, absolutely typical_. The wolf saved the girl's life, but still he gets accused of attempted murder! So despite the seeming difference in attitude between this Kingdom and the 2nd, wolves were still looked upon with suspicion and fear. She glanced around, looking for a place to hide. There was tree, a little way into the woods, with broad branches and a thick canopy. She climbed it as fast as she could and found a place where she could get a view of the proceedings.

The mob instantly turned nasty. The wolf, only half aware of the world around him, was still conscious enough to register the people's sudden interest in him and stumbled into a staggering run towards the forest. The mob gave a howl of excitement, fury and blood lust more violent than anything a wolf could come up with, and took off after him.

"This way!" Leila called to him, "In here!"

The wolf must have heard her as he veered straight towards her hiding place.

"Up here!" Leila hissed down to him as he stood, looking around wildly for a place to hide under her tree. The wolf looked up in surprise, saw her gesturing wildly at him and without more than a moment's hesitation, swung himself up into the branches, climbing as quickly as he could.

Leila reached down to haul him up the last little bit and grabbed hold of him as he swayed, on the verge of collapse. She helped him into a secure place in the fork of the tree and held a finger to her lips.

"He went this way!" one of the people shouted, "He went into the woods."

The mob streamed past below them and into the forest. Leila gave a sigh of relief, they had not been discovered. Finally assured of their relative safety she turned her attention to the other wolf. He was handsome, even soaking wet and with a livid bruise and blood seeping down the side of his face.

"It's all right," she said, "They're gone now."

"Thankyou," the wolf said, "You saved my life, but why?" Then he got a better look at her and recognised her for what she was.

Leila smiled, "We wolves have to stick together," she said. "We should be safe here, they'll give up reasonably soon, but I think we should stay here until night fall."

"Definitely," the wolf said. "I was starting to get the impression I had stayed too long."

"What's your name?" Leila asked.

"Lucius," the wolf said, "And yours?"

"Leila," she replied. "Why were they after you?"

"Why would they not be?" Lucius asked bitterly. "I am a wolf after all." He sighed and touched his fingers very gently to the gash on his temple, it was already starting to heal. "I was on the jetty in the town when the girl fell into the river, I tried to catch her but missed. They must think I threw her in."

"It certainly sounded that way. What were you doing in the town?"

"Looking for work. I do what odd jobs I can find to try to make ends meet," he said, "Always moving, never staying in one place for more than a week or two. People always seem to find ways of pinning whatever bad thing happen on us."

"I know," Leila said, her memories as bitter as his.

"I was just about to leave when Molly fell in the river, now it looks like I'm leaving with even less than I arrived with," Lucius glanced over at her, taking in her solid walking shoes, trousers, jacket and her pack slung over one branch. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Just passing through," Leila said, "Like you I'm on the move. Did you have a pack or something?"

"Yes, it's still at the barn where I was staying," he said, "Of course they wouldn't let me stay in their fine inn, even if I did have the money for a proper room."

"I'll sneak into town when it's dark and get it for you. Which barn?"

"Why would you do that for me?" Lucius asked.

"As I said, we wolves have to stick together." _Anyway_, she thought, _I like you, don't ask me why, maybe you remind me of Warren or something_.

"It's in the barn behind the town hall," he said, "But I can get it."

"If anyone sees you set foot in that town they'll kill you on sight. They don't know me, or what I am, so I'll stand a better chance," Leila said practically, "And anyway, you're hurt, you should rest, we'll have to move again before dawn anyway."

That night Leila left Lucius dozing in their tree and slipped into town. She passed house after house, keeping to the shadows, slipping from cover to cover. This was not a place where it was wise to be a wolf, not that she had much choice in the matter.

The townsfolk were gathered in the square outside the town hall, the murmurings from the crowd were angry and restless. This was a crowd on the edge of madness, and all brought about by one misread incident, or was there more here than met the eye? She didn't stop to find out what the problem was, but with the mob in such a volatile mood she could guess whom they would take it out on. She had to find Lucius's pack and get the hell out of the region.

Finding an empty, shadowy alley a block away from the square she slipped between the two houses and hurried down the mercifully empty back lanes. It appeared that everyone was in the square. She passed several hen houses and a pigsty or two, but suppressed her natural inclination to stop for a quick feast and continued onwards, there was the barn just a few meters away. Unfortunately it was a few meters that were far to well lit for her liking.

"_Damn_!" she swore under her breath and sunk into the shadows as a half drunk rowdy staggered past. So that was part of what was fuelling this potential riot.

The man staggered onwards and Leila surveyed the situation. There was only one entrance to the barn and it was right across from her, on the other side of the one of the major thoroughfares of the town, and in direct view of the crowd in the square. She gnawed her lip; she was just going to have to bluff it. She straightened, and walked boldly out across the road, marching straight towards the barn door, making no effort to appear inconspicuous, trying to exude an air of confidence and challenge to anyone who would dispute her right to be there.

She had reached the barn door and was lifting the bar when a voice rang out.

"Hey, you, what do you think you're doing?"

Leila turned and stared the man who had challenged her right in the eye. "The wolf's pack is in here," she said, "I am going to get it, and burn it."

The man looked perplexed for a moment, then laughed, "You do that, girl," he said, "And then we can go and drag that stinking flea bag out of the woods and do the same thing to him. Well, go on girl, fetch it out, I'll go and get the bonfire started in the square." The man left, still laughing heartily.

Leila gave his retreating back a long, dirty look then slipped into the barn, barring the door behind her. Now, where would Lucius's pack be, and was there anything else in here that would prove useful in their travels?

There wasn't much light in the barn, but Leila's night vision was excellent and she soon located Lucius's pack, all ready to go. She hefted it and frowned, either he travelled light, or there were some things missing. She scouted around and found one or two things that would come in useful, wrapping them all up in an old blanket and tying the bundle with baling twine.

There was a thunderous pounding on the barn door. "Come on, girl, let's have the pack out, then," the man who had challenged her yelled.

_Blast_! Leila looked around frantically for another exit, but that door was the only way in or out, at least at ground level. Looking up she saw another way out, a window leading on to the roof. It was the work of an instant to climb up the ladder into the loft and shimmied through the window onto the roof.

The roofs were a dangerous path, slippery with falling dew and treacherously steep, but she still managed to get several blocks without breaking her neck, and dropped into another empty lane, this one on the edge of town. Once clear of the town she took to her heels and raced towards the forest and the tree in which she hoped Lucius was still hiding.

"Lucius!" she called up into the tree, "Lucius!"

"Leila?" Lucius' sleepy reply came, then more awake, "Leila, what's wrong?"

"We have to get out of here, now! The crowd in town in getting ugly, I think they're more than ready to burn the forest down to flush you out."

Lucius dropped out of the tree with surprising grace considering his injury, her pack in his hand. "Then we'd better get going," he said.

They swapped packs and headed deeper into the forest, away from the town.

Leila felt strangely contented as she ran along at Lucius' side. It was like running once more with Warren, being part of a pack with all the associated comforts and responsibilities. They were two lone wolves together, and they had already managed to form a tentative bond forged through adversity. Leila hoped that the comfort she felt was not misplaced and Lucius would not turn out somehow treacherous. As she ran, she prayed her fears would be dispelled.


	13. Chapter 13 Lost Souls

**Chapter 13- Lost Souls**

Leila and Lucius didn't stop running until dawn, by which time they were miles from the village. Exhausted by the pace and length of their journey, they found a place to camp beside a brook and settled down into the soft grass for a rest. They slept for a couple of hours, ate a brief meal of bread and by noon were on the move again. By evening they had left the county and any chance of pursuit far behind.

Stopping on a rise, Leila looked back the way they had come. They had crossed rocky ground and numerous streams; it would take an expert tracker to follow them.

"I think we should be safe now," she said, "Let's find somewhere to camp."

They found a sheltered nook in a hillside and made a crude camp hidden from casual glance.

"I don't think that I have thanked you properly for helping me," Lucius said, clearing leaves, twigs and grass away from a small patch of ground, "Without you I would have been nothing but smoke and ashes by now."

"We wolves have to stick together," Leila said as she gathered sticks together for a fire from the brambles and rocks surrounding the nook. "You would have done the same for me." She place the sticks into the cleared patch and flopped down on the ground, rubbed her aching legs and pulled her boots off to massage her sore feet.

Lucius gave her a grateful smile and knelt by the pile. He dug a flint out of this pack and struck it against the blade of his knife, sending sparks cascading down into the pile of tinder. The dry wood caught quickly and they soon had a cheery fire burning. Lucius stared at the dancing yellow flames, lost in thought.

Leila watched him for a few moments as he sat entranced, before turning to her own pack. She had 'liberated' a bit of dried beef while in town, wrapped in wax paper, from the wagon of a dried goods merchant who had been busy shouting blue murder in the square. With a bit of powdered stock- also from the wagon- a couple of carrots, an onion and a little water from a near by rill it could be made into a passable meal. Leaving him to his musings for a few minute she went to the rill, digging her toes into the soft, springy grass as she walked. At the tiny stream she filled her pan then sat on a rock to dip her feet into the water. The water was deliciously cool and eased her hot, tired feet.

When she returned with the water in her small pan, Lucius was still staring into the flames. She shook her head and started chopping things into the pan. When she set it on the fire, right in this line of sight, he jumped, broken from his trance. He smiled sheepishly.

"It's a strange thing, fire," he said, "It can give life, or take it away, be either servant or devourer. We need it to live, yet it can kill us so easily."

"You speak as though you know from experience," Leila said gently.

"I lost my brother and my father," Lucius said. "Accused of crimes they did not commit." His voice was bitter and disillusioned.

"People don't like wolves," Leila said, "They don't trust us, don't understand us, so they're afraid of us."

"You also seem to speak from experience. Have you lost anyone to the flames?" he asked.

"My parents," Leila said, flicking her fingers through the flames and feeling the brush of the fire against her skin. It was as soft as velvet, as light as a feather, but even so she could feel the sting of the heat. Fire was so deceptive, so duplicitous. "My brother and sister. All in one night."

"Are you alone now?"

"I don't really know. My brother survived, but we were separated. Now I don't know if he lives or not, I cannot dreamfast with him any more, yet I don't feel that he is dead." She didn't want to mention the curse, not yet. "You?"

"No, my grandfather is still alive somewhere."

Leila gave a snort of bitter amusement. "'Somewhere' sums up my life perfectly, not really anywhere, but always seeking what I cannot have." The curse loomed large in her mind. Seeking what she could not have. Always one step behind, running as fast as she could, but never able to catch up. That was what the witch had laid on her, but she had no choice, she had to keep running, there was too much at stake to stop.

Lucius gave a twisted smile, "Something else I know too well. Neither one place or another, not sure of where I am going, but always in the hope of finding it."

They smiled at each other, finding common ground in tragedy wasn't the best start to friendship, but it was better than nothing. The little pot slowly began to bubble and give off enticing aromas.

"You are not a native of this Kingdom," Leila observed, "You don't have the same accent."

"No, I come from the east, beyond the 5th Kingdom," Lucius said, "They call it the White Lands."

"I've never heard of lands east of the Kingdoms."

"There is little travel between our two lands. The mountains are difficult to cross, even in summer. Many on both sides of the ranges believe that the world stops with the highest peaks."

"What are they like?" Leila asked, "The White Lands?"

"I don't remember it very well, we left when I was very young, but I do remember deep, dark forests, vast lakes in hidden valleys and wide, snow covered steppes," Lucius said, gazing off into the distance, back to places barely remembered. "What about you? You don't speak like one of this Kingdom either."

"I'm from the 2nd Kingdom, more or less," Leila said.

"I passed through the 2nd Kingdom on my way here. For somewhere with such a large wolf population the humans seem to have a very strong aversion to wolves."

Leila laughed, "That is an understatement. The Queen hates wolves, as do most of her human subjects. She would have us all killed if she could."

"And that is why you left?" Lucius asked.

"Something like that," Leila said evasively. As much as she liked him, Lucius was still a stranger, and she wasn't going to give anything about herself away until she knew him better. "What about you, why did you leave the White Lands?"

"Not by choice. My family was forced to leave. Not exactly driven out, but it was made clear that we weren't welcome any more. We left to seek a new life somewhere safer." He gave a humourless snort of laughter, "We were wrong, there is no were safe for wolves."

"So you came to the Nine Kingdoms," Leila said. "How did you survive in a land you had never seen before?"

"We joined a band of gypsies, I grew up among their caravans. From my parents I learned to read and write, from the gypsies I learned to lie, steal and tell fortunes," Lucius smiled as he recalled happier times. "They taught me to survive in a hostile world."

"I have never heard good reports about gypsies. Considering the bounty that some Kingdoms have on our heads, I'm surprised they didn't turn you in."

"Don't take offence, but that is a very narrow view. Some clans are ruthless and cruel, but not all of them."

"I'm not being judgmental," Leila said, "As a wolf I should be the last person to pour scorn on other outsiders. I'm just repeating what is generally called 'common knowledge'." The pan was giving off increasingly delicious aromas and her mouth was starting to water. Maybe not as good as a freshly caught lamb, but a pretty good substitute under the circumstances.

"Oh, the type of common knowledge that says that all wolves are violent, untrustworthy, savage animals of minimal intelligence, innate evil and no moral character whatsoever?" Lucius asked, watching her closely.

"Yes, that type of common knowledge," Leila said blandly. "Are you hungry?"

"What type of a question is that?" Lucius asked. "I haven't eaten properly for almost three days."

"Well, I don't know if I would class this as a proper meal, but it's something at least." Leila took the pan off the fire and dug her plate out of her pack. The plate was deep, made of metal and very battered, but it did the trick. "I only have one, so do you want the plate or the pan?"

"I'm happy with the pan," Lucius said.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, regarding each other surreptitiously across the fire.

"So where are you headed?" Lucius asked. "It can't be all that safe, a young woman travelling by herself through hostile lands."

"I could say the same about you," Leila said, "Being alone is dangerous whatever you are. At the moment I'm just wandering, but I do want to make my way back to the main land soon."

"The land bridge is the easiest route," Lucius said.

"I can't go back to the 2nd Kingdom," Leila said, striving for an emotionless tone, "It's too dangerous for me."

"Why? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's not something I want to share," Leila said more harshly that she had intended, "It's complicated."

Lucius was quiet for a moment and Leila wondered if she had spoken to strongly to him, he was a nice man and she didn't want to drive him away just yet.

"The only other option is a boat," Lucius said. Leila breathed a silent sigh of relief, he had just been thinking.

"You don't have to come with me," she said reluctantly, "You're not in trouble in the 2nd Kingdom."

"I want to help," Lucius said, "You've been kind to me and I want to repay you if I can. Anyway, I haven't found what I'm looking for here, it's time I left this Kingdom. We could get to the 3rd Kingdom by boat easily enough."

"Are you mad?" Leila asked somewhat more forcefully than she intended. She modulated her tone, "We can't go there either, trolls."

"The 4th Kingdom doesn't have much a coastline and the only other option is the 8th Kingdom."

"Great Goddess, I made a mistake when I came to this Kingdom," Leila said, setting her plate down hard. She didn't want to tell this handsome wolf how much she had stuffed up, she didn't want to lose his respect so early in their friendship. By coming here she had trapped herself, she had been cursed and she had been made part of a prophesy she had no interest in. She took a deep breath. "There are ships that trade between this Kingdom and the Kingdoms to the south, maybe we could get a passage on one going to the 4th or the 8th Kingdoms."

Lucius pulled a map out of his pack and unrolled it. "The nearest port is Thorny Bay," he pointed to it on the map. "It looks like a couple of days walk from here."

"Well, if you still insist on coming with me, we leave a sunrise tomorrow," Leila said.

Later that night, Leila lay awake watching the moon. It was three days after the new moon and all She was showing was a thin sliver of light in the night sky. On the other side of the fire Lucius slept soundly, but she could not.

Leila was unsure if she wanted a travelling companion or not. She had to move quickly sometimes, and she had no set pattern to her wanderings. She wondered if this undeniable handsome wolf would prove an advantage or disadvantage. Surely he had his own business to attend to, he had mentioned finding something. Leila shook her head and rolled over. Yes, she wanted him along, he was handsome, brave, kind, and smelt divine, but she also didn't want him along, she didn't want his to share in her danger. She gave a small moan. It was too much to think about.


	14. Chapter 14 Thorny Bay

Hello readers.

Apologies for my somewhat erratic postings of late, but I have been gallivanting through France, Germany, Scotland and the north of England during the English school summer holidays and haven't had much access to the internet.

I must also apologise in advance for the next few chapters as I have to write them from scratch and they have not been easy. I shall endeavour to do better. Please keep R & R-ing, as it encourages me to keep going.

**Chapter 14- Thorny Bay**

There was salt in the air. Leila could smell it. Salt and something vaguely rotten. The air was soft and cool and dried the sweat on her face as the two wolves reached the crest of the hill. Spread out before them was a spectacular vista. The green rolling hills they had been travelling over for the best part of the last week gave way sharply to cliffs that plunged down into a sapphire blue expanse of never ending water, reflecting the bright sky. Seagulls and tern floated on the breeze above the cliffs and ships and boats of all sizes dotted the water.

Leila had never seen the sea before and was quite impressed. The town at the base of the hill, however, did not fill her with confidence. Thorny Bay was a large town Kingdom's standard, with at least 200 houses and other buildings clustered around the water front. She felt the ever present knot of tension in her stomach tighten a little at the thought of entering another town, but they had little choice if they wanted to find passage back to the continent.

Over the past week Leila and Lucius had travelled quickly through the rolling green landscape of the 6th Kingdom, avoiding villages and farms and keeping off the main roads. Neither of them had any difficulty finding their way, their sense of space and time was far more developed than in humans and they could not get lost.

Leila found Lucius to be good company, easy to talk to, willing to do his share of chores when they set camp at night, and full of information about places she had only ever dreamed of. She enjoyed his company, which surprised her. She had been alone for so long she had become used to being totally self-sufficient, but wolves were pack animals and no wolf on its own was entirely happy.

She did not, however, tell him of her time in the 3rd Kingdom, the memories were still far to painful for her talk about with anyone but Simon, the crazy old man whom she loved like a father. She made sure that Lucius did not see her without her shirt on, not from false modesty, but to hide the troll's handiwork.

In the same way she could tell that there were things that he was not telling her, things about his past that he kept close to him past. She did not pry, she understood the need to keep secrets.

Now, she feared, their shared time was going to come to a close. Once they had reached the continent Lucius would continue on whatever journey he was on and leave Leila to go her own way and wander alone again. However there was little she could do about that, she would not beg him to stay with her, that was not her way, but she certainly would not drive him away.

"Do you think we will really be able to find a passage back to the Kingdoms from here?" she asked, trying to drive the nagging doubts about Lucius from her mind.

"This is one of the main ports for the 6th Kingdom," Lucius said, sweeping his arm to take in the wide bay and the ships clustered around the docks built where the river met the sea. "From here we should be able to get a boat to any of the western Kingdoms. The difficulty is going to be finding someone who will take us."

"Why do you say that?" Leila asked.

"People don't like wolfs," Lucius said, "We are considered bad luck among the mariners, and they won't take us if they know what we are."

"So we hide what we are," Leila said, "There's nothing unusual about that."

"Nothing at all," Lucius said. "A week until full moon," he said almost as an afterthought.

_A week_, Leila thought in response, _we have to get to one of the mainland Kingdoms in a week or we'll have to head back into the forest_. "How long does it take to sail to one of the other Kingdoms?" she asked.

"A couple of days, I think," Lucius said, "We should have enough time."

"But we will have to hurry," Leila finished for him. "Let's go and see what we can find."

Thorny Bay was a bustling place, with many people hurrying to and fro without paying anyone else the slightest attention. They were in sharp contrast to other people who sat around on benches outside houses, shops, warehouses and what Leila supposed were inns, who paid attention to everyone.

She was nervous in the town. The only other town of any size she had really been in was the one where she had been sold as a child to the troll by the hunters, an experience witch did not give her fond memories. She stayed close to Lucius who seemed at least a little more comfortable in the crowds and watched around her carefully. At one point she felt a hand on her belt pouch. She turned with a speed only a wolf or one of the fey could muster, caught the pickpocket by the arms and snarled at him, her eyes flashing gold. Her nerves were on edge and she reacted far more violently than she should. The boy, seeing a brief flash of the wolf within his potential victim, tore his arm free and dashed off through the crowd.

"I shouldn't have done that," Leila said to Lucius.

"He shouldn't have tried to pick your pocket," Lucius replied easily. "The docks are this way."

"But he'll tell everyone!" Leila whispered fiercely, "Then we won't be able to get a ship."

"It's too late to worry about it now," Lucius said seriously. "Let's just try to find something quickly just in case the story spreads."

Leila gnawed her lip and followed Lucius. Had she sunk their chances before they had even started?

They made their way to the docks on the water front where there were ships of every shape and size spread out around the bay. The dock front was lined with warehouses and full of people bustling to and fro carrying all sorts of cargo from the famous 6th Kingdom mattresses to ingredients for all sorts of magic potions as well as more mundane cargo such as sacks of grain.

Humans, elves, the occasional troll, dwarves, gnomes and goblins rushed through the street on their various errands. Thorny Bay was one of the busiest ports in the 6th Kingdom and had one of the greatest mix of species. Leila slowly relaxed, surely a wolf among this lot wouldn't cause too many undue comments.

Lucius grabbed man wandering past with a clip board who was shouting at three goblins moving mattresses. "Where do I find out about getting passage to the 4th Kingdom," he asked.

"What?" the man shouted back above the noise.

"Passage to the 4th Kingdom!" Lucius shouted back.

"How should I know!" the man shouted, "Shove off, I've got work to do."

A goblin pushed between them, sending Lucius reeling back. He stepped back before he was knocked over. "Strike one," he commented to Leila. "Do you want to try next?"

Leila swallowed nervously. She didn't want to be seen as weak in Lucius' eyes, so led the way along the dock until she found a likely looking man wearing a big hat outside a building. "Excuse me," she said, trying to muster confidence that she didn't feel.

The man looked her up and down and she had a distinct impression he was looking straight through her clothes. "You're not the usual client I get," he said, "Or are you looking for a job?"

Leila glanced over his shoulder. There were a number of women of varying species ranged on the porch of the building. She could feel her face going bright red at the outfits they were almost wearing. "N-no," she stuttered a little, "Nothing like that. We're looking for passage to the 4th Kingdom and wondered if you knew which ship is heading out next."

"Are you sure you don't want a job?" the man asked, looking hopeful.

"Absolutely not!" Leila exclaimed.

"Ah well. Corry!" he called over his shoulder to one of the woman who pushed herself away from the wall on which she was leaning and sauntered across to him.

"Yars?" she drawled.

"Which ship is heading to the 4th Kingdom next?" the man asked.

"That'd be the _Golden Tresses_," Corry said, "I said good bye to one of the crew not half an hour ago."

"The _Golden Tresses_," the man said to Leila, "and if you're ever back this way and looking for work, you know where to find me."

"Thanks!" Leila said and fled back to Lucius' side.

Lucius was looking vaguely amused.

"You knew, didn't you!" Leila accused.

"Well dressed men in big hats standing around outside building are one of two things. One of them is a head merchant. The other, well, you've just found out," Lucius said. "You handled it really well, though."

"I've never been so embarrassed in all my life," she said, "But I know which ship is going out next, the _Golden Tresses_."

"The _Golden Tresses_ it is then," Lucius said, "I wouldn't have been able to get that out of him."

"Why not?"

"I'm male."

"I had noticed," Leila said, starting to calm down. Lucius might have known she would be embarrassed, but she, at least, got the information they needed.

The _Golden Tresses_ was a wallowing cargo ship, built for capacity rather than speed or beauty sitting at the far end of the docks near the sea wall. It was being loaded with crates of spinning wheels that had not been particularly well packed and threatened to spill at any given moment.

"Is that the only ship going to the 4th Kingdom?" Leila asked dubiously. "I don't know much about ships, but it doesn't seem very sea worthy to me."

"I'm not thrilled about the idea either," Lucius said, "But it's this or go back to the forest for another week."

Leila bit her lip. She wanted to get back to the continent, she wanted to continue her hunt for her brother, but she could not deny to herself that she had not already wasted time. Surely another week or so would not matter? She growled at herself, annoyed. How easy it was to justify wasting yet more time. Was it truly because she didn't think the ship safe or because returning to the continent would most likely mean losing Lucius? She didn't want to lose Lucius, but she also wanted to find her brother and do something about this curse the Three Fold Goddess had told her about.

Lucius was waiting patiently for her decision.

"All right!" she said, more exasperated at herself than his irritating patience. "Let's ask."

The man at the bottom of the gang plank seemed to be the likeliest person to ask, but this time, Leila made Lucius do the asking. It went remarkably smoothly. A couple of coins from Leila's carefully managed store and they were up the gang plank and on the deck of the ship.

_If this thing holds together in anything more than a light breeze_, Leila thought, _it will be a miracle_. The ships timbers did not look particularly solid, but they had made their decision and they were committed. Anyway, Leila was an old hand at miracles.

They had not been promised any sort of accommodation, so they found an out of the way spot to sit and watch the frantic activities of the mixed species crew. Neither Leila nor Lucius had seen such a diverse range of beings or heard such a diverse range of expletives used in such a small area. Watching a diminutive male fairy with salt spotted wings swearing heartily at a full sized ogre, making less than flattering comments about his smell, his size, his brain capacity and his ancestry and not being subsequently flattened was an education for both wolves.

"So why is it," Leila whispered to Lucius, "That with this diverse range of beings, that wolves are considered bad luck?"

Lucius shrugged. "Superstitions never make any sense," he said, "They are based mostly on hearsay, fear, lack of understanding and what some bloke said to someone's great grand father in a pub one night."

"You two!"

The wolves both jumped. They looked up at a dwarf wearing an oversized three cornered hat and a puffed up air about him.

"Are you the supercargo?" he snapped.

"The what?" Leila asked.

"The passengers!" the dwarf barked back.

"Yes, we are," Lucius said.

"Well, you're to stay out of the way and bunk in the fo'c'sl," he jerked his finger over his shoulder at the prow of the ship where a short flight of steps led up to another deck. "We'll be underway in an hour or so."

With that he turned and left.

"Charming," Leila murmured. "The fo'c'sl, whatever that is, is it then."

"I think I'll just stay here until things settle down a bit," Lucius said.

"Good idea," Leila said and leaned against his side. "This is going to be an interesting trip, I've never been to sea before."

My apologies for the chapter, it proved very difficult and I spent a lot of time thinking it over. If you don't like it, don't worry, neither do I.


	15. Chapter 15 Storms and Mermaids

**Chapter 15- Storms and Mermaids**

Leila emerged from the fo'c'sl and took a deep breath of the clean, fresh sea air. The air in the squalid cabin which she had shared for the night with Lucius and at least 10 others had been thick with the stench of unwashed bodies, pipe smoke and other unmentionable odours. It had been difficult for Leila, with her sensitive nose, to sleep the night without giving herself away.

The air of early morning, in comparison, was like, well, a breath of fresh air.

The scent of wolf reached her nose and she smiled as Lucius stepped to the rail beside her.

"That was an interesting experience," he said mildly as he drew in a deep breath of crisp air.

"Not one I wish to repeat," Leila said. "Six days until full moon."

"Three days until landfall," Lucius added. "Not a huge amount leeway."

"There's not much we can do about it now," Leila said, "except hope for a favourable wind."

"Not much chance of that," a female voice said from somewhere below them.

Leila leaned over the rail. Swimming easily beside the ship was what looked like a young woman. A silver flash of fish scales broke the surface briefly.

"Why do you say that?" Leila asked.

"You must be Leila," the woman said, water cascading off her arms as she ducked through the bow wave, frolicking in the foam. "We were told about you, you have the Goddess's blessing."

"Yes," Leila said nervously, glancing around the deck. There were a few sailors around, but they didn't seem particularly interested in what their two passengers were doing. "But I would rather it wasn't so well known. Who are you?"

"Aliana," the mermaid said, "And there is a storm coming. We try to warn the sailors of storms, we feel them in the seas long before the winds come, but they always blame us for them."

"A fairly typical thing to happen, blame the messenger," Lucius murmured. He glanced over his shoulder. There were two sailors heading in their direction. "Company on the way," he said softly.

"How long until the storm hits?" Leila whispered urgently.

"Half a day at the most," Aliana said. "Good luck!" She dived beneath the waves with a final flash of her silver tail and was gone.

"Should be tell the sailors?" Leila asked.

"Not in so many words," Lucius replied quietly. "let me try something. Excuse me!"

The two sailors turned.

"This is my first time at sea, it seems pretty vulnerable, out here so far from land. What happens if there is bad weather?"

The two sailors sniggered a little. "You go below, we batten down the hatches, reef the sails and ride it out," one of them said.

"And how do you know if there is bad weather on the way?" Lucius asked innocently.

Leila stared at him in bewilderment for a few moments then schooled her face into an expression of innocent vacancy.

"The barometer falls, the seas start to get rough, the wind picks up, there are lots of little signs," the other said.

"What's a barometer?" Leila asked.

"That's a barometer," the first sailor said, pointing to a device of glass and iron near the steps to the poop deck.

"Oh, and how can you tell if it is falling?" Leila asked, wandering over to it and reaching out as if to tap it.

One of the sailors leaped forward to stop her, and in so doing glanced at the glass ball in the water filled tube. It was indeed starting to slowing sink. The sailor glanced up at the sky. The sky was still clear, but on the horizon was a thin band of cloud and the wind was starting to become fitful.

"I think that you should go below, miss," the second sailor said. "Things could start getting rough in a few hours."

"Thank you for your help, I'm sure that you know how to deal with storms and such," Lucius said, "Come on, dear, lets take their advice."

Leila and Lucius went toward the fo'c'sl. "Have I ever told you that you are brilliant?" Leila asked.

"No," Lucius said.

"Well, you are," Leila said firmly. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Pretend to be such an innocent and in so doing, convince people that they spotted the problem, not you?"

"Long practise," Lucius said, "I was taught to read fortunes by the people who raised me, and part of that is getting people to examine their own lives and tell you about them. That way you can tailor your fortune to their circumstances."

They found an out of the way place and watched as the crew suddenly got a lot busier, running around tying down loose crates, shortening sails, fixing storm lines and doing a dozen other chores that needed to be done before bad weather struck.

"There seem to be a few things you haven't told me," Lucius said after a while. "I won't pry if you don't want me too, but I can't help feeling curious as to why that mermaid came to you."

Leila gave a small jump. She hadn't told him of the curse that the witch had laid upon her, nor had she told him of the mission that the Goddess had laid upon her. The Goddess had said that the creatures of the other world would aid her, just like the mermaid, and that must have come as something of a shock to her friend. She felt uncertain of herself. Should she tell him? Should she trust him? A large part of her screamed yes, but another, smaller part whispered no. They had travelled together for weeks now, shared a lot about themselves, but they both kept secrets from each other, and they understood why.

"I don't want to discuss it," she said, mentally kicking herself. _Trust him!_ Her heart screamed at her, _he is good, he will never betray you, he will help you! Will he?_ Another part said, _will he help you or will he use you to further his own ends? Keep your secrets, don't share them, not yet_.

"Fair enough," Lucius said, and dropped the matter.

Leila gave a little sigh. Each secret they kept from each other was a brick in the wall that kept them apart. Would she ever be comfortable enough with anyone to let down all her barriers and tell them all of the truth, not just little bits and pieces?

It was a couple of hours before the day started to darken, the rain heavy clouds scudding across the sky, driven by a fretful wind. Lightening arced between the clouds ahead and sea was rising into large, rolling swells. The two wolves, sensing that they cold do nothing to help the frantic sailors, retreated to the smelly fo'c'sl and wedged themselves into an out of the way corner.

The ship was already riding the vast swells when the full fury of the storm struck, climbing up long slopes of the water mountains then racing down the steep sides towards the next trough. The waves towered above the ship, their peaks white with foam, looming like great, malevolent giants over the fragile construction of wood and canvas. Strong winds and sheets of rain struck the ship like a hammer, tossing it from side to side and many times during the tumultuous day and night Leila was sure that they would be crushed. The captain, however, was an experienced seaman and brought the ship through safely out the other side of the storm.

It was noon the following day before Leila and Lucius emerged, sick and exhausted, from the fo'c'sl into a day washed clean by the chaotic storm. The skies were once again blue and the sea, while not completely calm, were peaceful.

Leila drew a shaky breath. "Never again," she said to Lucius as she clung to the ropes of the shrouds to stop herself from falling over. "Just get me safely to shore and I will never again leave solid land."

Lucius was as pale and shaken as she was and grasped the side of the ship for support as he tried to steady his heaving stomach. "Me too," he said, "First and last time, ever."

"I see you made it through without too much damage," a voice said from the water below.

Leila leaned over the edge, then frantically grabbed at a rope to stop herself from pitching head long into the water. Aliana was there, grinning up at them.

"Yes, and I will never again leave my rightful range," Leila said, "You can keep the ocean, give me a nice deep forest any day."

"You really shouldn't let one bad experience blight your opinion for ever," Aliana said, "You should see what it is like far below, you would love our palaces and castles."

"I'd love to see them," Leila said, "But I would have to grow gills to manage that. No, I belong in my own habitat, thankyou very much!"

"Mermaid!" a shout rang out from behind Leila.

"Damn!" Aliana swore, "Goodbye, Leila," she said, and dove back under the waves with a flash of silver scales.

Sailors were flocking to the sides of the ship, some had long spears in their hands. All scoured the surface of the water for any sign of the mermaid, but Aliana was long gone.

"A bad omen," a voice boomed out behind the two wolves and they turned to see the Captain pacing the deck towards them. "Mermaid always bring bad luck."

"She was talking to it," one of the sailors pointed at Leila.

"Talking to a mermaid!" the Captain exclaimed, striding towards Leila who back away towards the bulkhead, "Heaping ill luck on ill luck. First we have to take a woman on board, then she talks to mermaids. What other bad luck will you bring us, girl"

"We have brought no bad luck!" Lucius said, putting a broad shoulder between the angry Captain and Leila.

"Out of my way, boy," the Captain pushed Lucius to one side and stared at Leila, examining every part of her with a critical eye.

Leila was suddenly and painfully reminded of the way that the Troll king had looked at her on the first day she had been in his clutches, gloating as he pressed the branding iron onto her skin. Terror washed over her and she was a frightened 12 year old again. "No!" she screamed and cowered back against the bulkhead, her hands raised to ward off the blows that she was sure would follow.

"Leave her alone!" Lucius shouted, jumping to Leila's side, thrusting aside a sailor who tried to stop him. The full moon was close and Lucius' control was not at its best. He snarled at the sailor, his eyes flashing gold and his teeth extending.

The sailor stared at him in horror for a moment, then gave a scream of fright and backed away, pointing a shaking finger at him as Lucius fought his way to Leila's side. "Captain, he's a demon!"

The Captain took a sudden step back from the pair in front of him, spell bound for a moment by Lucius' contorted face. He regained his composure in seconds. "He's not a demon, you fool," he shouted, "He's a wolf! Grab them."

Leila, who had pushed away her fears surged to feet beside Lucius and the pair of them, back to back, faced the hostile crowd of sailors.

"Now what do we do?" Leila asked. "We can't fight them, there's no were to run."

Lucius was silent for a moment. "Captain!" he called. "We don't want to fight you. All we want is to get to the 4th Kingdom, or any of the others. If we fight you we will kill many of your sailors before we die, but you are a reasonable man. What will you do to us if we surrender?"

"I'll throw you overboard you scum!" the Captain shouted back at him.

"You'll kill us?"

"In an instant."

"What about a compromise!" Leila said. "If all we face is death either way, we'll go down fighting, but if you promise us a boat and some supplies, we'll leave your ship without any bloodshed."

"I don't have the faintest idea how to deal with a boat," Lucius whispered to her, "Do you?"

"No, but Aliana will probably help us," Leila hissed back.

"Very well," the Captain said, "We'll prepare a boat and two days of supplies, then you're off my ship and no longer my concern."

"Deal!" Lucius said. "Now all we have to do," he added in a soft voice, "Is hope that he keeps his word."

The Captain did keep his word and while the two wolves kept their defensive stance, a boat was lowered over the edge of the ship. Their packs had been thrown in along with a sack and a couple of bottles of water.

"Go on, scum," the Captain said, "Get off my ship!"

* * *

There will be another chapter soon, I promise, this isn't a great chapter, but it has to be in there! 


	16. Chapter 16 Stormy Seas

Hello all. Once again, apologies for such as huge amount of time between instalments. It isn't that I have forgotten Leila and Lucius, far from it, they are frequently in the back of my mind, but, well in one word, work. Please keep R&Ring, I need the occasional kick up the bum to keep moving.

As usual, I don't own 10th Kingdom, unfortunately.

**Chapter 16- Stormy Seas**

Leila and Lucius watched as the _Golden Tresses_ sailed away.

"I can't say that I am sorry to see the back of that ship," Leila said, then looked around empty vastness of the ocean. "Although I'm not sure that this is any better."

"You said that Aliana would help," Lucius said, "Any idea how to get in touch with her?"

"Not a clue," Leila said. "What sort of supplies do we have?"

Lucius looked through the sack that the sailors had provided, "Some old ships biscuits," he said, holding one up, "A bit of salted beef and two bottles of water, that's on top of what's in our packs."

"I hope it doesn't take us long to reach shore then," Leila said and looked up at the sky. She was thankful that wolves had an instinctive directional sense, but it didn't help that much when she had no idea which way land was.

"Any ideas?" Lucius asked.

"Do you have your map?" Leila asked in reply.

Lucius spread the map out on the seat in the middle of the boat and the two wolves examined it carefully.

"We left Thorny Bay and were heading towards the 4th Kingdom," Lucius said, "Heading south east. That storm blew in from the north, so theoretically we should be close to the 4th Kingdom."

"Storms are notoriously unreliable," Leila commented, "We could be anywhere in the northern sea. Great. ALIANA!"

Aliana's head popped out of the swell. "Sorry, Leila," she said, "It's my fault you were found out."

"Never mind," Leila replied, "It's so close to full moon, it was doubtful we could have managed another three days."

"Well, the least I can do is get you to shore, and soon, there's another storm coming."

"So soon?" Leila asked.

"The storm systems roll in quite frequently at this time of year."

"How long will it be until the next storm front hits?" Leila asked.

"It's a long way off, the traces are faint, I would say about a day and a half."

"I'm impressed you can feel it so far off," Lucius said, "We can usually sense storms coming on land, but only by a few hours."

"How long would it take to get to the 4th Kingdom?" Leila asked.

"At least two days to get to a port, but we could reach land sooner if you don't mind going ashore in the wilds."

"If anything I think we'd prefer the wilds?" Lucius said. "Would you really help us? We're land creatures; we have no links to the sea."

"Leila is beloved of the Great Goddess," Aliana said enigmatically, "We will help."

Lucius gave Leila a sideways look. Leila blushed and looked away.

"One day I hope you will trust me enough to tell me," Lucius said softly.

"Maybe, one day," Leila said equally softly. "I'm sorry, Lucius, it's so hard to trust."

Aliana interrupted before the two wolves could get any more uncomfortable with the secrets they each possessed. "I'll be back within the hour with my sisters," Aliana said, ducking back into the waves, leaving Lucius and Leila alone on the ocean.

Leila slid over beside Lucius, she felt exposed and vulnerable stuck in a small boat bobbing on the waves, and needed the comfort of another living soul. "We're in a right mess this time," she murmured.

"I'm sorry, Leila," Lucius said, putting his arm around her.

Leila stiffened for a moment, then relaxed into his embrace, shivering slightly as the cold wind skimmed across the water, throwing a fine mist of spray into their faces. It felt good to be held close.

"It isn't your fault either," Leila said, "And if you try to take the blame I will bite you."

"Still so fierce, little wolf?" Lucius asked.

"Always," Leila said.

True to her word Aliana was back before much time had passed with four more other mermaids, each with long hair. Aliana's hair was silver, but her sisters' hair covered all the colours of the spectrum- green, blue, red and gold, with scales to match.

"Here, tie these to the bow," Aliana said, passing Lucius a handful of ropes made from seaweed, "We'll pull you."

Lucius did as commanded and passed the ends back to the mermaids who quickly swam off. The boat jerked once as they took up the slack, then started moving smoothly through the water, picking up speed as they went.

By some unknown force, other sea denizens were drawn to them. Three dolphins took up the chase too, jumping in and out of the water and taking their turns with the ropes while the mermaids raced along side, sometimes leaping from the water in graceful arcs, just like their dolphin friends. Leila and Lucius laughed along with them as they dashed through the water, glad to be among friends for once.

The mermaids seemed to be tireless and they travelled for hours, skimming across the water. As the day progressed other mermaids joined them, taking turns in pulling the small boat along and allowing others to rest. Leila and Lucius, unable to do anything constructive, curled up in the bottom of the boat as the sky darkened to night. The mermaids left them for a few hours in the deepest night, vanishing back into the waves with promises to return once they had rested.

Leila and Lucius stared up at the blazing stars overhead. It was perfectly clear and cold and each star was like a diamond glittering on black velvet. The moon rose, a great disk, lacking only the last edge to make it full. Both wolves welcomed Her with a long, ululating howl that spread out across the water, sending back tiny echoes from the waves.

Their cries fell away to silence and both wolves felt profoundly uncomfortable. Although they knew that the waters below teamed with life, it was a world denied to them, they could no more visit the mermaids in their homes than the mermaids could visit the wolves' deep forest dens. With that divide keeping them so strongly apart, the two wolves were utterly alone and neither of them liked it. They curled up close to each other and went to sleep in each others arms.

Morning brought fog and the mermaids. Firstly the sea mist rolled in, obscuring everything and deadening all sound and wakening the wolves with its damp touch. They ate a little of the food they had left, and both jumped when Aliana and one of her sisters suddenly appeared out of the water. With no scent to warn them, the wolves were no better equipped than humans.

Aliana and her sisters took up the ropes again and started to tow them through the mist.

"I hope you know where you are going," Leila commented.

"Unlike the winds and weather above," Aliana commented, "The currents don't change much. Don't worry, we know exactly where we are going, the closest land, and quickly."

"Why, what's wrong?" Leila asked, hearing the anxiety in the mermaid's voice.

"The storm is coming in faster," Aliana said.

The mist cleared an hour or so later, leaving a bright blue sky, but looking to the north west, Leila could see thunder heads building and Leila was privately concerned that the storm would catch up with them before they reached land. Her fears were almost proven as the sea started to rise and the mermaids and dolphins had to fight not only against the drag of the boat but also the rising swell.

The winds were also picking up by the time land came into sight, and the rain began just as the mermaids towed them into a rocky, steep sided cove. The mermaids and dolphins rapidly vanished, only Aliana stayed only long enough to bid them fare well.

"Good bye, Leila," she said, "May the Goddess protect you, I have to go back to deep water before the storm hit fully."

"Good bye, Aliana," Leila shouted back, "And thankyou!"

Leila and Lucius steered the boat to a place where a rock slide had carried away part of the steep cliff and, taking what supplies they could, laboriously clambered up the scree to the flattish land at the top. The storm had brought a tidal surge before it and, looking over the cliff, Leila saw their small boat smashed to bits on the rocks below.

"Thank goodness we got here," she said, raising her voice over the wind, "we would have been gone for certain if we had to face this on the open water."

"We have to find shelter!" Lucius shouted back, "Otherwise we still might not make it."

They staggered inland as the storm tore at their hair, their clothes and driving cold rain against their bare faces. Leila held on to Lucius' hand with all her strength as they struggled through the wind as they headed for the tree line. The trees provided some shelter, by the wind was lashing the branches, and the pair barely missed getting flattened as a tree was torn up by it roots and flung to earth by the power of the storm.

The lashing branches were another danger and Lucius was sent tumbling as a branch swept him off his feet. Leila helped him to his feet and he pressed a muddy hand against a long graze across his cheek, half dazed by the blow.

"Come on, Lucius, there're some hills up ahead, we should be able to find some shelter there," Leila said, pulling his arm across her shoulder to support him.

Driven by the power of the full moon the wolves staggered on until they came to an outcrop of rock close to a low range of hills. Luck was with them and they stumbled across a small hut, long since abandoned, with only half a roof and the door and window shutters missing, but intact enough to provide the shelter they needed.

Leila and Lucius dropped to the ground in the most sheltered corner of the old hut and huddled together, sharing their warmth against the rage of the storm. There was no way they could light a fire to keep warm in the wind and rain, so had to rely on each other for survival. Wrapped together in their cloaks, the fell into an exhausted sleep as the storm raged around them.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17- The 4th Kingdom

**Chapter 17- Landfall**

The storm eased a few hours before dawn and Leila and Lucius emerged from their meagre shelter into the aftermath. The sky was washed clean, with just s few high clouds scudding across the firmament to mar the pure blue, but the land was not so fortunate. Fallen leaves carpeted the ground, twigs and branches were scattered like the bones of some ancient beast, and here and there a venerable tree had succumbed to the wind and lay forlornly in new clearings.

Leila squeezed water out of her soaked cloak. "It's turned into a nice day," she commented. "Any idea where we are?"

Lucius pulled his map out of his pack. His pack was just as wet as the rest of their gear, but the map was still dry. "This may have cost a small fortune," he said, "But I have to admit it was worth it."

"Is it enchanted?" Leila asked.

"Yes, it can't be torn, it won't get wet, and it will show us exactly where we are, anywhere in the 9 Kingdoms."

"So where are we?"

Lucius spoke a few words and passed his hand over the map. He examined it for a moment. "How bad is your relationship with Queen Red?" he asked.

"Why?" Leila asked cautiously.

"We didn't make it to the 4th Kingdom," Lucius said, "See here."

The map was incredibly finely drawn and had a small red dot on the tip of the northern most peninsular of the 2nd Kingdom. "Oh no," she said, "Please, _please_, don't tell me we are in the 2nd Kingdom." She looked imploringly at Lucius, and noted his expression. "We are, aren't we?"

Lucius nodded. "That's the bad news. The good news is that there aren't any major settlements around here. If we follow the coast east we should be able to get across the border fairly easily."

"I hope so. I don't know how widely known I am, but I don't want to take any chances," Leila said. "We'd better get going, the sooner we move, the sooner we'll be safe."

"Right then, east it is."

As they travelled they could feel the waxing moon reach its completion and the wild blood coursing through the veins. They both started moving faster, each challenging the other to climb the next hill, leap the next stream and vault fallen trees faster until they were both running through the forest. The fire in their veins drove them on to greater effort as their senses expanded and they ran recklessly onwards. They could smell every tree, every bush, every animal that had passed within the last day. They could see every stone, every branch as sharply as if it were bright daylight. They could hear every bird, every leaf as it rustled in the breeze, and they could feel the electric power of the moonlight on their skins and in their very beings.

It had been years since either Leila or Lucius had experienced full moon with another wolf, and they both realised how lonely they had been. To run with a pack, for a wolf, was to be complete, to run alone was to have only half your heart.

Somehow they fell into the hunt, Leila running, Lucius chasing her until, some time around midnight, he ambushed her as she snuck up a gully, leaping down from his hiding place on a boulder and bearing her down to the soft sand of the dried stream bed. The pair of them snapped and snarled playfully as they rolled together, the full moon shining down on them.

For the briefest of moments the wolf in them was pushed aside and Lucius asked her, "Do you really want to do this?"

Leila grinned up at him, "Oh yes, I want this more than anything. I want you, now and forever."

The bond was forged, and it could not be broken, not even in death.


	18. Chapter 18 Revelations

Chapter 18- Revelations

**Chapter 18- Revelations**

Morning dawned as bright and clear as late summer could bring. The half-wolves woke as the new sun caressed their faces in their sheltered gully. They smiled at each other, sleepily and lay entwined in each others arms for some time until hunger drove them to rise and hunt.

There were still a few animals around and Lucius managed to bring down two plump rabbits while Leila stalked the grouse which were just waking for their new day, bringing a pair back to their make shift camp. Both of them were ravenous and were hard pressed to contain themselves and wait until the meat was cooked before wolfing it down.

"Some bacon would make this perfect," Leila said as she dismembered one of the birds and tore into it with her still prominent canine teeth. "Wrapped up in bacon, baked, stuffed, mmmmm. Where's that rabbit?"

Lucius was equally enthusiastic as he tore his way through his portion, "Rabbit stew," he commented, "Cooked with herbs and cream. My mother used to make us rabbit stew. We would hunt it, she could cook it. She used to get Cyrus to take us hunting again, just so she could cook it without us hanging around."

Leila nodded, "My mother used to do that as well." She sighed, "I miss her so much."

"I know."

There was a long pause as each of them was lost in their own thoughts. In that quiet time Leila made a decision. She had Lucius had become mates, and it was not right for mates to keep secrets from each other. She trusted him with her body and with her heart, she had to trust him with her secrets, even though it was hard.

"Lucius, I think.." Leila started.

"Leila, there's something I need..." Lucius said at the same time.

They gave each other a started stare then burst out laughing.

"You first," Leila invited.

Lucius nodded, "It's sort of hard to say, but I think you deserve all the truth. I told you, didn't I, that my family was driven from the White Lands?"

Leila nodded.

"My family name is Volkovich, Son of the Wolf in your language. My ancestor helped a young prince called Ivan Tsarevich to find the Firebird, the Phoenix. He saved the prince's life and he was rewarded with lands and power. My Grandfather was the third Baron of Greyreach and until a rival baron raised our people in rebellion against him, he had ruled justly and fairly. It didn't take much to stir the people against us, as you said, people don't like wolfs."

Leila gave a bark of humourless laughter. "I see that people are the same, no matter where you go."

"True. The only people who accepted us were a band of gypsies. They found us one night, my parents, my grandfather, my older brother and myself, lost in the snow. They took us in when we had fled our lands with nothing. I was happy with them. Then my grandfather disappeared several years ago, taking with him the only mark of our family's status, his ring."

"Do you think he returned to the White Lands?"

Lucius shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure he was captured and is being held somewhere in the 9 Kingdoms. That's why I'm wandering, I want to find him, not only because he hold the proof I need to reclaim our lands, but because he's my grandfather, and since my mother died, the only family I have left."

Leila felt his grief go straight to her heart. She knew exactly what drove him on. She took his hand in her own.

"Since we're baring our souls, I think it's only fair you should know about me too," Leila said. She swallowed her anxiety, this was not going to be easy. She let go of his hand and pushed her shirt down off her shoulders, turning her back to let Lucius see what she had hidden from him since they had started to travel together. Had it really only been a couple of weeks?

Lucius growled, low in his throat when he saw the scars that marred her skin and the brand on her shoulder. "Who did that to you?"

"Trolls," Leila said as she covered her back again. "After my parents were killed I was captured by hunters and sold to the trolls. They enjoy inflicting pain on people. I escaped. I jumped off a cliff into the river, all I wanted was to die cleanly and quickly, but I didn't die. I was pulled out of the river by a crazy old man called Simon who nursed me back to health and gave me a reason to live again."

"How old were you?"

"12 when I was captured, 15 when I escaped. I'm 19 now. I spent two years with Simon, and I've been wandering for almost two more, looking for my brother," Leila said.

"Then we're on the same quest," Lucius said.

"Not quite, there's more. You asked once why Aliana helped us, it's because I have been claimed by the Three Fold Goddess, one of the deities of the Old Ways, to unite Humans and Wolves, and quite frankly, I haven't got the faintest idea how to go about it," Leila admitted. "What's even worse is that I have been cursed."

"Cursed?"

"By a witch. She has laid claim to my brother and cursed me, I won't be able to find him, not until the day I die. Do you still want to have anything to do with me?" She couldn't help the note of pleading which crept into her voice. She didn't want to loose Lucius.

Lucius enfolded her in his arms. "Through fire and storm, I'll stay with you. We're mates now, aren't we?"

"Now, and forever," Leila said. She was so happy she could have cried, and she did.


	19. Chapter 19 Wolf Call

Chapter 18- Wolves and Witches

**Chapter 19- Wolf call**

Trouble came several days later when they were nearing the border with the 4th Kingdom and at least the illusion of safety. Deep in the forest Leila and Lucius stumbled into the territory of another wolf clan. Leila caught the scent markers at the border of the clan's territory, but it was already too late, they had crossed the line and sharp howl rang through the forest, summoning the clan for retaliation.

"Do we run for it?" Leila asked. Despite being a half wolf herself, she had had relatively little contact with her pure blood cousins, and none who still lived wild, away from human contact.

"No," Lucius said, "We might be able to talk our way out of trouble, but if we run they will chase us, at least to the borders of their territory."

"Maybe we should risk it," Leila said.

"They can run faster than we can," Lucius said, "And listen..."

The howls were ringing out all around them now.

"We're already cut off."

Leila fumbled for Lucius' hand and held it tight as the wolves emerged from the trees, half hidden in the twilight. They were big, black and were growling as the circled the two half wolves, examining them from all angles.

"Kneel down," Lucius whispered and pulled Leila with him as he knelt, a gesture of submission he hoped would communicate their harmless intentions.

"Strangers," the lead wolf growled, "What is your business here?"

It was a formal challenge. Leila and Lucius glanced at each other, whoever spoke would be taken as the dominate wolf, and it was an issue that neither of the half-wolves had raised between them. Lucius squeezed Leila's hand and nodded to her. Leila swallowed heavily. Lucius was passing the responsibility over to her, giving her dominance over him. She only hoped that she didn't make a mess of it and get them both torn to pieces.

"We offer you no challenge," Leila said, "We only wish to pass through your territory to return to our own, we will not hunt what is yours, nor lay claim to any part of your lands."

Lucius nodded and gave her a small smile. She felt a mixture of relief and elation that he approved of her handling of her the situation.

"Where are you from?" the alpha-wolf asked.

"The 4th Kingdom," Leila said.

"You have not come from the 4th Kingdom," the alpha said, "you smell of the sea."

"We have journeyed from 6th Kingdom by sea," Leila said, "We landed to the north of here a few days ago."

The alpha examined them suspiciously, "You have a familiar scent," he said, "I have only smelled it once before, when the Queen was passing through our lands." He growled as he mentioned the Queen. "You share blood with her."

The rest of wolves suddenly growled, their hackles rising as they digested the news. The atmosphere grew heavy with tension.

"The Queen had my mate and two of my cubs killed for hunting in _her_ royal preserve," the alpha snarled.

"Yes, I share blood with the Queen," Leila said, it was pointless to deny it, "She is my aunt, but I am not of her family. Her sister, my mother, married a wolf of the 2nd Kingdom and was cast out for it. I grew up in the wild lands between the 2nd and 4th Kingdoms."

"What was your father's name?"

"Darien, my name is Leila."

"His fate is known to us," the alpha said, "He was not of our blood, but his clan is known to us. And what of your mate?"

Leila had to admire the wolf's sense of smell. "Lucius speaks for himself."

The alpha turned his head to Lucius. It wasn't usual wolf protocol for the dominate wolf to allow another to speak on their own behalf. The dominate wolf was spokesman for the pack, to speak for and protect their pack mates.

"I am of the White Lands," Lucius said, "Far to the east. I am looking for my grandfather."

"You smell strange," the alpha commented, then sat back on his haunches, he had made up his mind and, despite everything, he didn't believe the pair to be a threat. "I am Fenric, and my clan in the North River clan, you may pass safely through our lands."

"You should not trust them, Fenric," a female wolf hissed to him as she sidled up beside him, "She is of the Queen's blood."

"But not of her family," Fenric said with a growl. The female slunk away, her challenge met and bested.

Family and blood were complicated bonds within lupine society, one could be blood without being family, but it was rare. That Leila was of the Queen's blood was a mark against her, but that her father was a wolf and that her family had suffered horribly at the hands of humans like the Queen was a mark in her favour. As always she was caught between the worlds. At least this time, Leila seemed to have come out on top.

"We will guide you," Fenric said, "Along the safe paths through the forest."

"We need to get to the 4th Kingdom," Lucius said, "Are the borders guarded?"

"Yes," Fenric said as the trotted along, "But humans don't know all the ways to cross, there are the hidden passages known only to the wolves and the fey. Come, we will show you the way."

The wolf pack led them through the secret forest paths to the border, and wished them well before vanishing back into the forest like ghosts. Leila felt a surge of relief as they stepped across the invisible line and out of Queen Red's reach. However, their relief did not last long.


	20. Chapter 20 Gyspy rhythm

A quick chapter note. These are not the same gypsies that Wolf and co. run across some years later.

**Chapter 20- Gypsy Rhythm **

Leila stumbled as she was pushed roughly into the circle of gypsy wagons, falling against Lucius who caught her set her back on her feet. He didn't seem worried and Leila was unsure if she should take comfort or be disturbed by his lack of concern. The hooded man who had pushed her laughed roughly, sparking her temper. She turned and snarled at him. He grinned and held up a placating hand.

Within the circle the gypsy camp was a vibrant and bustling place full of light, sound and colour in the gathering twilight. Wild music was being played beside a fire and two of three people were dancing in a whirl of arms and legs. Leila was overwhelmed by the sudden abundance of people. She had been either alone or with only one or two people for so long that the large crowd set her nerves on edge.

In the centre of the circle, set in from the rest of the wagons, stood a brightly painted wagon hung with streamers and bunches of herbs. It was to this wagon the two wolves were escorted. Lucius put an arm around Leila's shoulders.

"It will be all right," he whispered to her, "They won't harm us."

"How can you make that promise?" Leila whispered back fiercely.

"Trust me," Lucius said.

The door of the wagon opened and a woman, her long hair grey with age, her face lined with wrinkles, but with twinkling black eyes and a perfectly straight back, emerged from the gloom within. The only sign of her age bothered her was when she grasped the offered hand and leaned heavily upon it as she descended the four steps to the ground. She examined both of the visitors closely, then smiled.

"Lucius, it's good to see you again," the old woman said, spreading her arms wide in welcome.

Lucius went easily into the old woman's embrace, leaving Leila standing with her mouth open as the rough men around her laughed heartily.

The leader of the men tipped his hood back. "Sorry about that, Lucius, we thought we'd have a bit of a laugh."

Lucius stepped away from the old woman and slapped the man on the back, "You forget, Cyrus, I can smell you coming a mile off. You couldn't sneak up on me if your life depended on it."

"Well, I have to keep on trying," Cyrus said with a slightly sheepish laugh.

"Enough, Cyrus, you've had your fun," the old woman said, "Now go and see to the feast to welcome home our lost son." She shooed the men off and took Leila and Lucius' arm, drawing them towards her wagon and seating them on a bench beside it. "Well, I see that your wandering has not been in vain, Lucius," she said, looking Leila over. "Where did you find her?"

Lucius laughed, "This is Leila, Anna, and I didn't find her, she found me. She saved me from hunters in the 6th Kingdom."

"What on earth were you doing there?" Anna asked.

"Wandering." Lucius grew serious, "Anna, do you have any idea where is Grandfather? I haven't been able to dream with him for years."

Anna sighed, "Lucius, I am sorry, I have scried for him time and time again, but he hidden from me."

Lucius dropped his head into his hands. For several long moments he was silent and Leila and Anna watched him without saying a word. Leila knew his grief, she had felt it herself and knew the turmoil it brought. All she could do was stay with him and give her love and support when he was ready for it.

"He's not dead," Lucius said, his voice muffled. "I know he's not dead, I would have felt it."

"No, he lives," Anna said, "I have seen it. But his heart is dark and heavy and he lives in despair."

Lucius deflated and sat down again. "I don't know what to do. He's my only family, and I don't know how I can help him."

"Stay with us for a while, Lucius," Anna said, "We are your family, your clan. You have been away from us so long and you need time to rest."

"But I have to look for my Grandfather!" Lucius said, but Leila could see that his heart was torn.

"We are moving camp tomorrow," Anna said, "We are going south to the coast for winter, then east towards the 1st Kingdom. Travel with us."

Lucius nodded, despondency taking over again.

"Your gear is still packed in Cyrus' wagon, he has kept it safe since your Grandfather was lost. Go and talk to him," Anna said, "Regain your spirit."

Lucius sighed and rose. "All right, Anna, I will travel with you. Is Leila also welcome?"

Anna turned her gaze on Leila. Leila felt herself being examined all over again, but she felt no hostility from this woman, only curiosity. "She is your mate." Anna said, "A wolf. Of course she is welcome among us. We will welcome her properly tonight at the feast. For now, she may stay with me. Go," she shooed Lucius away.

Leila watched Lucius stride purposefully towards the large bonfire in the centre of the camp.

"It's sometimes hard to remember the strain he is under," Leila said. "I know what it is like to lose your only family. It's bad enough if they are dead, worse if they are missing."

"Lucius has not always been so steady," Anna said, "After his father and brother were killed, when he was 15, his heart fell into turmoil. For a year he was wild, getting into trouble, out of control. He was almost self-destructive and we feared for him. Gypsies are known to be wild and perilous, but his wolf side was taking control and he was becoming a danger to himself and to us. His grandfather was the only one he could talk to and he suggested that Lucius do what all young wolves of the White Lands do, go on a soul quest."

"A what?" Leila asked. She had never heard of such a thing.

"A quest to find his purpose. It was while he was away that grandfather disappeared. I think that it has weighed heavily on his mind that he wasn't here at the time, to help," Anna said, "Not that he could have helped, two of my sons were killed during that hunt, not my wolves, but by men, the same men who took his grandfather away from us. After that, he wouldn't stay with us, he couldn't. But wherever his journey has taken him, he has settled down a lot, and grown up quickly."

"It's hard to imagine he was ever wild," Leila said, "He has been so calm. If it wasn't for him I don't think I would have made it back to the 4th Kingdom at all."

"He has grown, and I think that you have had something to do with that."

"I've only known him for a few weeks." Leila stood up and staggered for a moment, she was so tired.

"Rest a while, young wolf," Anna said, taking her by the hand and leading her into her own caravan. She eased Leila down onto her bed and covered her with a bright blanket of woven wool. "You are safe with us, no one here will let any harm come to you."

Leila, unable to keep her eyes open, drifted into the welcome arms of sleep.


	21. Chapter 21 Despair

**Chapter 21. Despair**

Wolf uncurled himself from his position on the floor, in the corner of his bleak cell. He stretched as far as his chains would allow him, shifted position slightly and curled back up again, leaning his head against the wall and staring at the tiny patch of sky he could see through the small barred window. The cell was cramped, dirty and dark. The only light came from the window, which faced north and received no direct sun, and from the flickering torch in the corridor that shone feebly through the small observation window in the door.

When he felt in need of motion, something he had not done for some time, so sunken was he into the mind numbing lassitude of imprisonment, he could barely satisfy it. The cell was a meagre five small paces in any direction and except for the occasional meal, when they remembered to feed him at all, he was rarely allowed out. He felt envious, when he could summon the energy to think, of other prisoners who were allotted working tasks around the place. They could at least see more than their own bleak and depressing four walls, even if it was simply the bleak and depressing corridors of the prison. Some of them even got to go outside and see the sky.

Ah, the sky. Wolf could barely remember the last time he had seen the sky, an unrestrained bowl of blue, white and grey stretching from horizon to horizon above him, or the blazing glory of the night sky with the myriad stars that burned brightly in the dark firmament and the silver perfection of the moon, his Lady, his love and his bane.

His heart felt like a stone in his chest and tears trickled unnoticed down his cheeks. He didn't even whimper, he didn't have the heart, he just stared at the tiny patch of unreachable sky beyond the bars while his memories of open fields, shady forests, cool rivers, burbling streams and the freedom of the endless sky slipped further and further away. Soon, he feared, all his memories would be gone, drained away with his heart broken tears, and all he would know, all he would ever remember would be the dark, cold grey walls and lifeless stone of his prison. The darkness hovered just at the edge of his vision, creeping ever closer until one day he would drown in it.

He didn't know when he had started calling himself Wolf instead of his real name; he could hardly remember what his real name was. Everyone around him simply called him Wolf as a descriptor and as he had felt the last traces of the boy he had once been die, he started calling himself that too. It was easier than trying to track down memories of his past, memories of a time when he roamed free, memories that were locked away deep within his heart, beyond his reach.

A clang in the corridor and voices woke him from his despairing trance with a jolt. Something different was happening, something outside the usual mind numbing routine, something new enough to shock his mind into activity. He stumbled to his feet, staggering as he put his weight on legs gone numb with inactivity, and rushed to the door to peer through the little window.

Two guards walked along the corridor and around the corridor. Wolf cocked his head and strained to hear them as they met a third just around the corner.

"Another one dead," one of them said dispassionately.

"Oh, which one?" another asked.

"In there."

Wolf wondered which 'in there' it was.

"You sure?"

"As a door nail, must have been some time last night, he's on the floor, staring at the ceiling," the first replied, "I can tell you, it gave me the willies, the expression on his face."

"Well, well, well, I was wondering how much longer he'd last," the third voice added. "His sort usually don't last that long in here, still, he won me a goodly amount, the other lads were sure he'd cark it long before this."

Wolf shuddered, wondering who the poor sod they were talking about actually was. He hated the guards and the way they viewed their charges, like animals to be wagered on, not living, thinking -and for want of a better term- human beings, who had feelings of their own.

"We'd better get rid of 'im before he starts to stink," the second voice said, "You go tell the gov', I'll get the dead crew."

Who was it, Wolf wondered, and how did he die?

There were many ways of dying in this place, all of which were considered natural causes. Stabbed by a fellow prisoner, starved or accidentally poisoned by the swill they served as food, beaten by the guards, suicide and death by despair were all considered natural causes and listed as such in the governor's log. No one had escaped this place except those who escaped into death, and none of them mattered to anybody, not inside the prison and not outside. It was understood that when you were brought here there was a less than one in two chance that you would come out alive.

The dead crew- two prisoners with a stretcher- walked by under the watchful eye of the ever-present guard. They returned a few minutes later with the body sprawled haphazardly on the narrow stretcher. All the blood drained from Wolf's face. Grey, they were carrying Grey. Wolf could only stare in horror, wide eyed and paralysed with shock as the body of his closest friend was carried past him like so much garbage.

Grey was the only other wolf in the prison, convicted of poaching and saved from burning by the circuit magistrate, only to the sent to the Snow White Memorial Prison instead, and regretting his reprieve for years afterwards. A few minutes of pain on the fire would have been nothing compared to the years of suffering that he had finally escaped from.

Grey had been in the prison for four year when Wolf had been brought in and had taken the frightened young wolf under his paw, seeing him through his first suicidal flushes to a more stable, if darker, frame of mind. Grey had been Wolf's first and only friend in this terrible place, his mentor, his pillar of strength, his guiding star. And now he was dead, dead of the heartbreak from which he had sought to shelter Wolf.

Wolf slid bonelessly to the floor, how could this have happened? How could Grey, to whom he had spoken a few days ago, have suddenly given up and succumbed to the darkness? Why? What had caused him to lose hope so suddenly?

For the first time in three years something stirred in him, something rose in him, surging upwards, churning his sluggish heart. It was unfair, it was so monstrously unfair. Grey had been the gentlest of creatures, wise and kind, undeserving of the prejudice and hatred that had brought him here, to his death.

Wolf slammed his fist into the wooden door behind him, ignoring the pain and the splinters as he drove his hand into the wood again and again. Tears poured from his eyes as the feeling grew until he could no longer contain it, he threw his head back and howled aloud, screaming his grief and despair to the uncaring world.

"Quiet!" one of the guards yelled, attracted by the pounding on the door.

Wolf ignored him and threw his head back again, his eerie cry echoing through the corridors and stirring the other prisoners to raise their voices in protest.

"I said quiet!" The guard opened Wolf's cell door, pulling out his club.

Rage coupled with grief in Wolf's body, giving him the strength he knew only when the moon madness came over him, and taking away his control. As soon as the man stepped across the threshold Wolf pounced. He surged to his feet and, swinging his chains like a club, he caught the man full across the face. The guard let out a shriek of pain as his nose was smashed and fell back into the corridor. The scent of blood reached down into Wolf's psyche and he lost what little control still remained as the wolf took over. His eyes flashed into gold and his teeth grew and he threw himself onto the guard, determined to rip his throat out.

The guard's cry had brought others running and they were in time to witness Wolf's transformation, and to stop his attack. He was dragged off his victim before he could inflict any more damage and thrown to the floor. Wolf's fury made him unaware of the guards' blows and he attacked them all, lashing out at anyone who came too near him, until one brought his club down on Wolf's head and smashed him to the ground and out of consciousness.

Sorry, dark chapter, and another one to come, but it is always darkest before the dawn.


	22. Chapter 22 Memory and Sorrow

Disclaimer: still don't own 10th Kingdom or make any money out of it. Drat.

Warning: Dark chapters on their way.

**Chapter 22- Memory and Sorrow**

Lucius woke with a howl. Leila, jolted out of her sleep, sat bolt upright as his cry of anguish speared straight through her soul.

"Lucius!" Leila cried, bounding over the faintly glowing embers of the fire to his side. "Lucius, what is it?" She wrapped her arms around him as continued to howl and drew his head down onto her shoulder.

"He's dead," Lucius sobbed, "He's dead, he's dead."

"Who? Who is dead?"

"My grandfather," Lucius managed to get out between sobs, "My grandfather is dead."

Leila held him closer, she knew exactly how he felt, she could feel his grief through the close bond that they had established over the last three months of travelling together. It brought back all the memories she thought that she had suppressed of deaths of her mother, her father, her brother and sister. The memory was a lance that pierced her heart as surely as it pierced Lucius'. There was little that she could do except hold him gently while he vented the first flush of grief.

She wished that they were still with the gypsies, but after spending winter with them, they had parted in spring to journey onwards. They could have helped Lucius cope with his grief, all she could do was share it.

Finally his sobs eased even though, as she knew, the pain did not, and lay, exhausted in her arms. She stroked his dark hair gently, wishing that there was something else that she could do, but knowing that there was nothing she could do but to be there for him. Anything she said would sound like empty platitudes.

After a while she eased him out of her arms to doze fitfully as she stoked up the fire, pulled her small pan from her pack and brewed tea for them both. He wouldn't want to eat, but tea would help him to ground himself again.

"Lucius," she said softly, touching his shoulder, "Drink this."

Lucius sat up mechanically and took the cup, sipping the hot liquid without tasting it. She could have given him ditch water for all the difference all the difference it made. When he had finished it, he put the cup aside, stood and faced the rising sun. Leila went to his side as wiped his eyes.

"Dimitri Volkovitch, born Baron of Greyreach," he said, announcing his grandfather's full name and title to the rising sun, rising in the east, from whence he and his family had come, "Father, Grandfather, lord, outcast, half-wolf. May your soul fly free to the Summer Lands, unfettered by flesh or steel, carried by my love for you. Be free."

"May the Great Goddess welcome you into her arms," Leila added softly.

The pair of them lifted their heads together and howled their grief to the rising sun, Lucius mourning for the Grandfather he had just lost, Leila remembering the family she had lost so many years ago. Their cries echoed across the rolling hills of the 4th Kingdom, and all who heard them, wept for the sorrow they felt.


	23. Chapter 23 Dreamfasting

Disclaimer- not written for profit, just for fun.

Note to reader- my apologies for the huge length of time in posting chapters, they have been sitting in my computer waiting to be posted. There are a few dark chapters on the way, Wolf is in a dark, dark place.

**Chapter 23- Dreamfasting**

Wolf awoke, spluttering, as a bucket of icy water from the river was thrown over him. He opened his now normal eyes to find himself lying on his face in front of the governor's desk. He ached from the blows and kicked the guards had used to subdue him and his head was still spinning from the blow it had taken. All the fury had drained out of him, leaving only black despair and grief, and all he wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow him.

The guards, however, had other ideas. On seeing him aware again the guards hauled him to his feet to face retribution. The governor, short, balding and vicious, stood behind his desk, his hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the dripping, swaying prisoner before him.

"You almost incited a riot, you attacked one of my guards," he said, "Acts I cannot allow to go unpunished. As such I must make an example of you, just in case anyone thinks that I am going soft. A hundred lashes, three days in the stock and two weeks in the oubliette." He sat down to record the sentence in his log and waved a dismissal to the assembly.

"Grey," Wolf said, his voice rough. He wanted to say more, but there was little he could say in his defence that would make any difference. He hung his head instead and hoped that his response wouldn't provoke a greater retribution.

"Oh, so that's why," the governor said, "You were howling for the mangy old dog, were you? Wolves, you're all the same. You should know, and I will remind all the others here, that there is no excuse for attacking my warders, none, not even mourning for a _friend,_" he sneered at the word. "Take him away."

The guards hauled Wolf out of the building and into the prison yard where dozens of other prisoners, all carefully watched by numerous guards, were waiting. Wolf felt the cold knot in his stomach grow harder and larger, his punishment, it seemed, was going to be immediate and very public.

The guards unlocked his chains and stripped him of his jacket and shirt then forced him into the stocks, closing the wood over his neck and wrists. He jerked involuntarily as the confining wood closed, but it held him firm. Wolf closed his eyes, took a deep breath and steeled himself was what was to come.

It was worse than he could have imagined. Each blow was delivered with all the strength his torturer could muster and before long the stinging blows from the whippy beanstalk vine began to multiply upon each other until each stroke was like fire across his back. The criss-crossed welts turned to cuts and blood trickled down his sides to drip onto the grass next to the sweat dripping from his contorted face as he sought, in vain, to suppress his cries of pain. He held out for as long as he could, but well before the end he was screaming. He hardly noticed when the last blow fell; he was almost unconscious.

"Take this as a warning," he heard the governor say, his voice muted and distant through the pounding in his ears, "I will not tolerate my good nature being abused."

_Good nature?_ Wolf thought blearily, _Sure, and I'm the Queen of the Elves_.

"Enjoy your time in the sun, animal," the governor said into his ear, "It's the last you'll see of it again for a long, long time."

Three days passed slowly for Wolf as he stayed, bent double in the stocks, his bloody back exposed to the elements. Night time was a blessing; the cold numbed his aching back and took his mind off the pain that seemed to consume his entire being. He was able, in those lucid hours, to take advantage of his position and watch the stars and the moon and let the glory of Her being transport him back, in his mind, to the joyous evenings be had spent with his family playing hide and seek with the moon and revelling in the joy of being part of his pack. Then the sun would come and scour him with His heat and scorch away his reason. The only break in the blur of heat, pain and despair was when a guard came, twice a day, to give him water, usually by throwing it in his face. If he managed to grab a mouthful he was lucky, but at least the rest felt deliciously cool against his face.

When his three days were up and he was released, he collapsed limply to the ground only to be hauled to his feet and dragged back into the prison. At first he thought that they were taking him back to his cell and he was happy, all he wanted to was lie down on his lumpy, hard but now unfortunately familiar bed and sleep. But instead the guards took him down, down past the lowest level of cells into the bowels of the prison, carved from the bedrock itself. Daylight never penetrated down this far and the only light was from the torches that the guards carried. The air was icy cold and damp, with the smell of mildew and distant drip of water kindling a raging thirst in Wolf's battered body.

As if in response to his thoughts on of the guards shoved a broken pitcher against Wolf's mouth and tipped it up. For a moment Wolf spluttered, drowning in the unexpected abundance of water, then he managing to swallow a couple of mouthfuls before the jug was taken away. He would have protested if he thought it might do some good, and asked for more, but he knew better than to even try.

The guards threw him down a flight of stairs into a chamber that was far below the ground and looked as though it had once been a natural cave, enlarged and roughly squared during the building of the castle above. He tumbled down the stairs awkwardly and sprawled in a heap at the bottom, surprised that he hadn't actually broken anything despite the fresh bout of pain brought on by the fall and the new set of bruises to take the place of the old.

There was a grate in the middle of the chamber and this the guards opened, revealing a dark hole which Wolf was sure lead straight to Hell, until the guards kicked him into it. It turned out to be relatively shallow, so much so that if he stood his head and shoulders would be above the rim. The guards closed and locked the grate above him and went away, taking the only light with them and leaving Wolf alone in the chill darkness.

Wolf soon found out the cruelty of his new prison. He could not stretch out in any direction and was forced into a set of cramped positions that soon had him feeling he was being permanently bent in two. What was worse that the imprisonment was the darkness, the absolute darkness, unbroken by even the faintest glimmer of light. He enjoyed the darkness of the night, but this was different, without even the comforting presence of the Moon and stars to keep him company. The darkness pressed in on him, like a great weight crushing him to the ground, stripping away all the shields he had built around himself and his treacherous heart to protect himself from his own pain, and leaving his soul bare to the mercy of his demons.

Exhaustion, pain, privation, hunger and darkness sent him plunging into a dream-state haunted by feverish images in which his family lived again, happy and together, and died once more in all the deplorable and brutal ways that his mind could conjure up. He saw his mother and father as he remembered them from his short lived days of innocence, his brother and sisters, the four of them romping and playing together. And then he saw their deaths, burned on a bonfire while he stood by, helpless, unable to save them. He dreamed of those last few days with Leila as they ran together through the forest, fleeing the hunters who always seemed to snap at their heels, taking on monstrous shapes, misshapen and grotesque.

If that wasn't bad enough there was always worse to follow as Leila vanished from his side and he was left in the vast, empty forest, alone and unable to find her, no matter how frantically he searched for her. He ran through the trees, calling for her in the long wailing howls used by wolves to communicate over long distances, but there was no reply. Every time he thought he found her trail and took off along it, it petered out and vanished, leaving him as alone as before and racked with the guilt of having failed to protect her. He woke from those dreams with bittered tears on his lips only to be thrown into the cycle of grief, guilt and loss all over again.

The endless repetition of those horrible hours continued until the painful, heart-wrenching loop was derailed by a new and unexpected dream. This dream was of Leila. He saw her, in this dream, several years older, taller and with the build and body of a woman and eyes far too old for her years. He saw her hurt and being cared for by a strange old man, then talking with a noble lady, running from hunters, walking with a handsome young man, both dressed for hard travelling and then he realised what was happened.

Dreamfasting.

Wolf had not attempted to dreamfast since his family had died, there was little point with none of his family left, or so he thought. He had always assumed that Leila was dead. He remembered all to well waking up in a ditch covered with twigs and leaves, the arrow wound in his arm carefully bound up and no sign of Leila. Like in his dream he had followed her scent trail in a zigzag path through the forest until it had abruptly halted. Two other trails, the hunters, converged with hers, and then they continued on with no trace of her.

He had assumed her dead, murdered by the huntsmen and carted off as a trophy, but he had followed the hunters trail anyway. He had followed the trail for months, always a few steps behind the fast moving hunters. When he had at last caught up with them and extracted the information about his sister, they had been deep in the 5th Kingdom. One trail lead to another and by the time that he had finally reached the 3rd Kingdom she was already gone. He had believed her dead, either from the cliff or the river into which the trolls had driven her. But what if she was not dead, what if she had survived?

Hope flared in Wolf's torn heart, driving back the demons. If Leila was alive Wolf had family, pack and that was something to live for, to find her once more, to be no more alone. Wolf smiled in the darkness and passed out.

Wolf was unconscious when the guards finally pulled him out of the hole and he awoke to find himself lying face down on his lumpy bed in his dingy cell. For a moment he felt euphoric, it didn't matter that he was still in prison, he was out of the hole, back where it was lighter and warmer and he could stretch out. Something cold touched his back and he jumped in surprise.

"So, you've decided to stay with us," an acerbic voice said.

Wolf turned his head a little to see the prison doctor attending to his aching, abused back. The doctor was an elf, himself a prisoner, with a surly disposition, but Wolf didn't care, he was someone to talk to.

"How long have I been out?" Wolf asked.

"Two days since they brought you back," the doctor said, "Some of the cuts on your back got infected while you were down below, you had a high fever when they dragged you in, you almost died. Pity."

"What? That I didn't?" Wolf asked.

"It would have been one less idiot for me to look after at any rate," the doctor said. "Lie still you damn fool."

"I have a reason to live now," Wolf said, subsiding back onto the bed, resting his forehead on his crossed arms, _I hope_, he thought, _I hope that dreamfasting with Leila wasn't just delirium_.

"If you're after revenge for Grey's death you'd better forget it or you'll end up in an even worse state, and don't look to me for help, I have no time for idiots," the doctor snapped, "If you want to die, there are easier ways than having the guards beat you to death. Acorn the Dwarf would agree to stab you faster than you could actually ask him."

"My sister is still alive," Wolf said, wincing a little as the doctor applied one of his infamous poultices with a rough hand. His back when hot, then cold, then went numb, taking away the throbbing ache that flared into spots of sharp pain when he moved. He sighed with gratitude. It didn't pay to ask what went into the doctor's medicines, but they did work.

"That's nice, I suppose," the doctor said as he worked. "Won't do either of you much good though, with her out there and you in here."

Wolf grabbed the elf's wrist as he started to gather his things together, "You don't understand. My sister is a wolf, like me. She is family, and she is pack. Even if I never see her again just knowing that she survived, that she's out there somewhere, is hope enough."

"Hope, precious little of that in here," the doctor scoffed, "Still, I don't pretend to understand how you wolves work, but if it will stop you from going the same way as Grey, that's all to the good." He started to gather his things together. "The anaesthetic should last you well into tomorrow, but don't move around too much, some of those wounds are still very tender. Sleep, Wolf," he said with unexpected and surprising tenderness, "You still have a lot of healing to do."

Wolf lay his head down again and closed his eyes, smiling to himself even as tears of relief, of despair and of hope trickled from his eyes. Now, at last, after all these years he could start to dream again.


	24. Chapter 24 Breaking the Shield

**Chapter 24- Breaking the shield**

Leila watched Lucius as he slept. It had been a hard few days, he had sunken into despondency since his grandfather's death, his spark fading as he faced the world without any of his family left the help him. She dreaded to think what would have happened to him if they had not found each other. It was not unknown for lone wolves to die of a broken heart.

She wished that they were still with the gypsies, they could have helped Lucius cope with his grief, all she could do was try to support him through it. They had travelled with them across the 4th Kingdom to their wintering camp within the 1st Kingdom, in a sheltered valley in the mountainous regions where the 1st Kingdom bordered both the 9th Kingdom, the land of the Elves, and the 5th Kingdom, the Naked Emperors domain. They had hunted in the rugged mountains, seeking out the hardy hill sheep and fished in the ice rimmed rivers where the clear water tumbled down the valleys.

It had been a time of rest for both of the wolves, a much needed break from the hardships and anxieties they had had to endure. It had been tempting to stay with them, but once the rivers started to rise as the snow peaks began to melt, they knew it was time to move on. That had been almost two months ago and they were back in the 4th Kingdom, having passed without incident through the 9th.

Leila sighed. It was hard to uproot herself from the warm acceptance of the gypsy clan. They had not judged her, but opened their hearts to her like only one other had, and like him, they had made allowances for her nature, just as they did for Lucius. Part of her heart would always be with the gypsies.

Leila lay down beside Lucius and touched his face. There were lines there that had not been there before, lines of pain, of grief. She knew the emotions that had drawn those lines far to well, for they had drawn the same lines on her heart and soul. She sighed and closed her eyes.

The dream plane was somewhere she hadn't been for many moons. Since she had lost contact with her brother and been cursed by the witch, she had been afraid to venture there, knowing that the witch with all her malevolent powers was waiting for her, somewhere in that vast landscape. This time, however, she was drawn in by a force she could not resist, something, someone, was calling out to her and she could not ignore it.

The dream plane was misty and surreal, and she had trouble navigating her way through the complex landscape, her own fault as she had not been there for so long and was out of practise. Frowning with concentration, she strained to hear the call and follow it carefully through the labyrinth.

"Great Goddess," she appealed to her patron, "I'm lost, help me."

"I am here," the voice of the Maiden whispered through the mist, "Follow me."

The Goddess had no visual presence on the dreamscape, but Leila could feel her and drifted after her. The mist cleared and Leila found herself soaring over a landscape she remembered from her last visit all those years ago. The cry was getting louder.

"Warren," she breathed, "Hang on, I'm coming."

Whatever was happening to him, his shield, the wall he had thrown up around his heart and soul to protect him was failing, and that could only mean that he was close to death. She could not, would not lose him too. She reached the shield and ran her hands over it, it was flickering and fading, as was Warren's life force somewhere deep inside. As she touched it images sprang into her mind, feelings of despair, of entrapment and imprisonment, feelings of guilt and grief, of failure and bondage. Every image was a cry of pain from a broken heart. She felt her own heart turn as heavy as lead in response. She had shielded herself when she had been a prisoner too. It had only been through another's love and care that she had manage to break down the wall she had built and allow herself to heal. She had to break Warren's shield, to let him know that she was still alive, that she still loved him, that he wasn't alone.

Concentrating all her love for her brother she formed a wedge and sought out the one particular memory that hurt him the most, the one she could actually do something about. She found the memory quickly enough. It was that day so many years ago that she, as a cub, had been captured by hunters, leaving Warren hurt and alone in the forest. She examined the memory. The guilt that she had felt for not returning to her wounded brother was nothing compared to the remorse that he felt at losing her. He had been responsible for her safety, and he had let her down. She shook her head, his self-blame was misplaced, no one could have anticipated events, and no one could have stopped them. She had to make him see that.

She was about to drive her wedge into that memory when she was buffeted away.

"He is mine!" the witch shrieked as she came hurtling down from the sky, "You will not have him!"

"He is not yours, hag," Leila shouted back, "He is my brother and I won't let you use him for your own twisted purposes."

"You can't stop me," the witch laughed.

"I can, and I will. You feed on his despair, well not for much longer," Leila snarled. She had to fight the witch off long enough to break down Warren's shield, but she had no experience in fighting on the dream plane and was vulnerable. "Great Goddess, what do I do?" she whispered as she watched the witch wheel around her.

"This is the landscape of the imagination," the Goddess whispered back, "Use it."

The witch came sweeping in, taking the form of a great black dragon. Leila had watched birds enough to know that the big birds were not always the best fighters. She changed her shape to that of a small kite, fast and manoeuvrable. She zipped away from the witch's charge and skirted around her, flitting in between her wings to grasp the back of her neck with her claws. The witch bellowed in fury and tried to turn her head around to snap at her attacker, tumbling out of the sky as she did so.

Leila changed her shape again, becoming a mighty panther, digging her claws into the dragon's thick hide while her teeth plunged into her neck. Even on the dream plane she tasted awful.

The witch screamed in pain and fury and changed shape. The pair of them hit the unreal ground and tumbled apart. The witch returned to her true form and Leila assumed the form she found most comfortable, a full blooded wolf.

The pair of them circled each other, Leila's hackles rose and she growled at the witch, baring her wickedly sharp canines as she pulled her lips back. The wolf form made her feel powerful and in more control than ever before. The feeling was intoxicating. They sized each other up, and then the witch stepped back.

"You can't beat me, little wolf," the witch sneered, "you may reach your bother, but what of it? He still bears my curse, and so do you. Go ahead, break his shield, but you will never find him." The witch laughed and vanished.

"Is that true?" Leila asked the Goddess, communicating not in words, but in the slight movements of face and ears with which her lupine cousins spoke.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the Mother said sadly, "She will hold your bother's life and soul in her hand until you find him in the real world and break her hold on him, and to do that you must first break the curse she laid on you."

"It's always one thing after another, isn't it," Leila sighed. "Well, first things first."

She returned to the shield and placed her paws on it. She found it far easier to mould her emotions into form as a wolf. She reformed the wedge, driving it into the memory of their last moments together, breaking a hole wide enough to reach through and touch his clouded heart, breathing life into the cold darkness within. "I'm here, Warren," she said, "I'm with you. You're not alone any more." _And neither am I_.


	25. Chapter 25 The Bow

**Chapter 25 – The Bow**

Leila sat in the bow of the small boat, watching the shore as Lucius steered their craft down the river. It had been a month since she had dreamed with her brother, and her heart felt light. He was in dire need, but he was alive and that lifted a weight she hadn't realised she was carrying off her heart. What she needed to do now was find him and help him as best she could, but first she had to find a way to lift the curse which stopped her from finding him, and for that she needed advice.

The river was lined with thick forest that marched up the flanks of the river valley to the snow capped peaks high above. They had left behind the settled lands of the 4th Kingdom and entering the wild lands between the 4th and 3rd Kingdoms.

The river would eventually lead into the 3rd Kingdom, into the troll's lands, but the two wolves were not going that far. Leila had been watching the bank for hours now, looking for the spot she had grown to know and love so well, and at last, near night fall, she saw it.

"Over there, Lucius," she called, pointing to a small clearing leading down to the waters edge.

Lucius expertly guided their boat to the bank and Leila jumped nimbly ashore to tie their boat to a tree. Lucius tossed their packs to her then followed her onto land.

"It's good to be back," Leila said, gazing fondly around the tiny river meadow.

"What is this place?" Lucius asked.

"I told you about mad old Simon, didn't I?"

Lucius nodded.

"Well, this is where he lives. Come on, I'll introduce you."

Leila led the way up the gentle slope and into the trees. Behind the screen of trees was the small cottage she had called home for more than a year. Smoke was coiling from the chimney and the shutters were open in invitation.

"Simon?" Leila called as she ducked in the low door. "Simon, are you here?"

"Who is there?" a weak voice asked.

Leila frowned, that didn't sound like the hale old man she had known. She crossed the main room to the small bedroom. "It's Leila, Simon, are you all right?"

"Leila?" the voice brightened.

Simon emerged from the room. Leila was surprised at his appearance. He had aged considerably in the three years she had been away, he seemed to have shrunk and his grey hair had thinned to a meagre covering of fine strands over his wrinkled skull. He looked frail, frail and ill.

"Simon, what's wrong?" Leila asked in alarm, "Are you ill?"

Simon waved away her hand as she moved to help him. "Not ill, little wolf, dying."

"But you can't be!"

"It isn't something you or I can prevent, little wolf," Simon said, "Years roll by and we must accept that our lives roll with them. But you are home now, and we are very glad to see you. Come, share a meal with us and tell me all that you have been doing over the last few years."

"I have a friend with me," Leila said, helping Simon to a chair and waving Lucius forward into his line of sight. "This is Lucius, we're travelling together."

"Well, welcome, Lucius," Simon said, "Any friend of Leila's is a friend of mine. Where did you two meet?"

Leila could see that Lucius was reluctant to talk about personal matters with the old man, so she jumped straight in. "Up a tree," she said with a fond grin.

"I beg your pardon?" Simon asked, "I thought you were a wolf, not a squirrel."

"We were hiding from hunters," Leila said, "In the 2nd Kingdom, and hunters never look up when they are chasing people."

"Why were they chasing you? Apart from the obvious."

"They were chasing me, sir," Lucius said, "Leila helped me escape. Without her I would have been a pile of ashes."

"Oh, you're a wolf too?"

"Yes. I hope you don't mind, sir."

"Why should I mind? I'm not Leila's father to tell her who she can and can't be with, she's a woman grown and can make her own decisions," Simon said, "And since she has chosen you, you are welcome here."

Leila grinned at Lucius, "See, I told you he would welcome you."

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Lucius said. "I'll go and check on the boat, leave you two alone for a while."

Lucius left quietly and Leila settled the old man comfortably in his favourite chair.

"I was going to make tea while we talked," Simon said, "And do stop treating us like an old man."

Leila shook her head and chuckled at Simon's grumping. "You sit there, I'll make the tea and then you can spend the next few hours listening to me talk," she said firmly.

Everything was exactly where she remembered it and in minutes she had a pot of tea made and was sitting on the only other chair in the cottage.

For the next hour Leila spoke of what had befallen her since she had left, from the revelation of her connection to the House of Red, to the Three-Fold Goddess and the witch's curse and their journey back to the 4th Kingdom. Simon listened carefully, not interrupting until, at last, Leila had finished.

"What am I to do, Simon, about the curse?" she asked.

Simon was silent for a few moments, his two minds working on the problem. "The Goddess said that you were to unite the Wolves and Humans?"

"Yes, but I don't know how. Wolves and Humans have hated each other for thousands of years, how am I supposed to unite them?"

"We think that is a secondary question at the moment," Simon said, "What you will need to do first is find your brother, find out what the witch intends to use him for and stop it from happening."

"And to do that I need to lift the curse that she put on me," Leila said.

"What were her exact words?"

Leila thought back to her encounter. The words had been engraved on her soul. "She said 'I will confound your steps, no matter where you go, no matter how close you get to him, you will never find him, not until the day you die'."

"Ah," Simon exclaimed, "Not until the day you die. That is how you can break the curse."

"What do you mean? That I must die in order to break the curse? That doesn't leave me any better off."

"It means, little wolf, that she intends to have you killed somehow, to stop you from fulfilling the Goddess' prophesy."

"Oh great," Leila moaned, "Now I'm going to have to look out for someone _actively_ trying to kill me as well as watch out for trolls, pitch fork wielding villagers and Queen Red's troops _and_ try to find another way, apart from dying, to breaking the curse."

"What's this about dying?" Lucius asked from the doorway.

"It looks like the only way to break this damn curse that stops me from finding Warren is to die," Leila said.

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" Lucius asked, coming to her side. There were no other chairs, so he sat on the floor beside her, taking her hand.

"Simon also thinks that the witch will actively try to kill me, I'm doomed," she moaned. "I think it would be better if I just stayed here and forgot that the outside world exists."

As she said it, Leila realized what an enticing prospect staying with Simon would be. Here she was safe, she had a home and someone who cared for her, and if Lucius stayed as well she may be able to start a family. Leila longed for safety, security and family and wished with all her heart for them.

"You wouldn't be content here for long," Lucius said, "And I would not be able to stay with you for long, I have to find where my Grandfather died. I want to find out what happened to him, and I want to find our family's ring. It's the only thing I know of which still holds the family crest. Grandfather was the last person to have it."

Leila nodded. He was right. She could not stay here, there were too many unanswered questions for her to settle in this hidden place and without Lucius she would be utterly miserable. He had his own quest and it would not be fair of her to demand that he stay with her just because she was too afraid to meet her challenges.

"I'm just so scared," she said, "I've been hunted before and I hate it. I don't want to live that fear any more."

"The only way to stop it is to meet your destiny," Simon said. "Face your fear and defeat it. But no one said you have to meet it alone and unprepared."

"What do you mean?"

"I will go with you, Leila," Lucius said, "To the ends of earth if necessary."

"I can't go with you," Simon said, "But I can help. Bring down that box off the mantle."

Leila retrieved the box that had sat on the mantle above the fire for as long as she had known, unopened. She passed it to Simon who took a tiny key from around his neck and unlocked it. Both Leila and Lucius leaned forward to see what it contained.

Within the box was a beautifully wrought medallion of silver engraved with a falcon's head and surrounded by rubies. It glinted in the late afternoon light, shining brighter than was natural even for perfectly polished silver.

"Do you remember what I told you of my brothers?" Simon asked.

"Yes," Leila said, "That they were all called Simon and each had a special skill."

"Do you remember what I told you of Simon the Bowmaker?"

"That he could make a bow that would hit whatever the eye sees," Leila said.

"That's right. After he left King Archidej he was captured by a King in a far off land. That King forced him to make a bow more powerful and more deadly that any that had come before. No matter who wielded it, a bolt from it would not stop until it hit the heart of a living being, even if it had to fly miles to do so," Simon said. "But our brother tricked the King and made not only the bow but this amulet. This is made from the same silver as the bow and where the other is death, this is life. It protects the wearer from the bow, so that he or she who wears it cannot be killed by it. I want you to have it."

Leila held up the amulet and admired its craftsmanship. "But how did you come it have this?"

"My brother escaped from the King and found his way, like you, to my door. We lived in peace for many years, but making the bow and putting the spells on it had taken part of his life and he died well before his time. He is buried down by the river," Simon said.

"Who has the bow now?" Lucius asked.

"A servant of the Queen of the 4th Kingdom, a man called the Huntsman. He is her assassin. He is very dangerous, he is an expert tracker, a forester, and utterly without mercy. Beware of him, my cubs, the Queen is the witch's instrument, and he is the Queen's. She may be in prison, but her influence is still strong," Simon took the amulet and placed it around Leila's neck. "Wear this always and there will be one less enemy for you to fear. Now," he said brightly, breaking the sombre mood, "The day is waning, time for supper."


	26. Chapter 26 The Parting of Old Friends

**Chapter 26- The Parting of Old Friends**

For two weeks Leila and Lucius stayed with Simon, resting from their journey and enjoying the peace and quiet that Simon's small holding offered. They talked with the old man, helped him with repairs ready for winter and hunted in the forest, catching and preserving small game with salt and smoke and collecting medicinal and culinary herbs for their continued journey.

One morning Leila rose early to greet the morning sun rising over the river. She stood by the misty waters enjoying the view from the river bank and felt that in spite of the peace she knew here, it was time to move on. She sighed sadly and turned back to the cottage. Simon was right, until her mission was over she would not be able to rest.

Lucius had been sleeping in the main room of the cottage over the last couple of weeks, making himself a bed in an unoccupied corner while Leila slept in her old room, a room once occupied by Simon's brother. Now he was awake and putting his bedding away for the day.

Leila stopped in the doorway and admired him for a few moments. While they were in the safety of the forest neither of them felt a need to hide what they were and his tail was in full view. She couldn't deny it, she was in love.

"Good morning, Leila," Lucius said, straightening from his task. "How does the day look?"

"Beautiful," Leila said, "Clear and sunny and warm enough to sleep outside."

"So we're going to move on?" he asked.

"Yes, it's about time we did," Leila said. "We're not going to find either my brother or your grandfather's ring here, unfortunately. Have you seen Simon this morning?"

"He's not up yet."

"That's odd." Usually Simon was up at first light. "I'll go and check on him."

Leila ducked through the low door into Simon's bedroom. The old man was buried under a pile of bedclothes with only his face showing. He had been complaining of the cold recently and piling on every blanket and quilt they could find.

"Simon? Are you awake?" Leila asked, opening up the shutters to let in the morning light.

"Leila?" the feeble voice emerged from the cocoon. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Simon, are you all right?" Leila went to his bedside and sat down on the edge.

"Yes, little wolf, everything is going exactly as it should."

"What do you mean?" Leila asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"Don't grieve for me, little wolf, it is well past time for me to move on," Simon said, freeing a hand to stroke Leila's cheek. His skin was as thin and translucent as rice paper and his veins stood out as blue ridges.

Leila's heart plummeted, "No, Simon, you can't die, not yet!"

"Everything in its season, little wolf," Simon said, his voice so soft that Leila had to lean close to hear it. "The tide ebbs and flows, as does life."

"But Simon, you've been like a father to me, don't leave me," Leila said desperately clutching his hand.

"Shh, my cub, let me pass on, naturally and without violence. Be happy for me, I go to join my brothers."

Leila closed her eyes. Simon was right, his passing would be natural and in its own time, not a violent reeving of a soul from a body it was not prepared to leave. She nodded, feeling the pain of another loss in her life drain away to be replaced by a gentle melancholy. "Yes," she said, the words of the passing prayer coming to her lips easily, "May your crossing be eased by my love for you. May your final hunt in the Summer Lands be fruitful and the Great Goddess welcome you into Her kingdom."

"A wolf's blessing?" Simon asked. "Well, I welcome it. Farewell Leila."

"Farewell, Simon."

Later that afternoon Leila and Lucius stepped back from their work. They had buried Simon next to his brother on the riverbank, facing the morning sun and built a cairn over the grave.

"It's as though I have lost another father," Leila said, placing a small bouquet of flowers and herbs on the grave.

"We all have to say good bye to people we love eventually," Lucius said, "It's just that it seems you and I have to say goodbye more often than most."

"You won't leave me, will you?" Leila asked.

"Not on purpose," Lucius said. "Come on, we can get a few miles before dark."

They closed up the house and left by mid-afternoon after a quick word with the dryads who promised to look after the graves.

"He was our friend, too," they said in their whispery voices, "We shall honour him."

Leila gave the place she had called home for more than two years a final, loving look, then turned away from it for ever.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27- News**

Leila examined the amulet as Lucius steered their boat away from Simon's now silent house. The silver glinted in the early morning light, the ruby eyes sparkling. It shone as though newly minted and seemed to reflect more light than it caught. It was a beautiful piece and she was glad to have it, not only as protection against the witches curse, but as a memento of her friend.

"So, where are we going to go?" Leila asked.

Lucius unrolled his map of the kingdoms. They were between the Kingdoms in the wilderness area that no one controlled. "We need information," he said, "Maybe we can start making inquiries in the 4th Kingdom."

Leila looked over his shoulder. "Beantown is the closest, maybe we should start there. How long do you think it will take us to get there?"

"We'll get to the River by mid afternoon, then we have to go upstream. We'll be going against the flow, so it will probably take us another full day. If we dock here, in this by-water we can walk the rest of the way," Lucius said as he ran his finger along the rivers course. "Good thing we stocked up on fuel at Simon's house."

"I'll miss him," Leila said quietly.

Lucius didn't say anything, there wasn't really anything he could say, he just tried to convey how much he understood with a simple nod. Leila gave a slightly sad smile in return and returned to examining the map.

The two half wolves joined the main river soon after noon and headed up stream, the boat chugging gently against the current. It was a peaceful time for them as they wound their way between the forest covered mountains into the eastern provinces of the 4th Kingdom. They took full advantage of the time and spent long hours in each others arms, not saying anything but enjoying each others company and the comfort of being together as only wolves could.

Night was spent moored in a private cove away from the river traffic and they lay that night on the roof of the cabin watching the wondrous glory of the stars. Lucius fell asleep before midnight, but Leila could not. She sat under the blazing stars fingering the amulet. It glittered even under the faint starlight and Leila's mind strayed back to the Three Fold Goddess.

She hadn't thought much about the Goddess, the Witch or the curse in the last few months, she had been so happy with the Gypsy clan and the thoughts had slipped from her mind. This amulet, however, and Simon's words, gave her pause for thought. The only way she was to break the curse was to die, but if she died, how would she carry out the task set for her by the Goddess. But if the curse was still strong, she wouldn't be able to find Warren, and some he was intimately tied up with the curse. She gave a frustrated sigh, it was all getting too complicated.

Leila sat quietly, looking up at the glowing crescent. It was just over half way through its cycle, the new moon had drifted unseen across the sky three nights before, and now it was a slender sliver of silver. It would be nearly two more weeks before it was full again and at this time of the month the wolf in Leila was sleeping, leaving her almost totally human. Human and vulnerable.

"Great Mother, help me in my quest," she said to the moon. "I feel that the time is almost upon us and I don't feel prepared." She fingered the amulet and shook her head with a small chuckle. "I don't know what I'm complaining about, I can dream with my brother again, even if I can't touch him until after I die, I wonder how I'll get around that little problem. I have friends who care about me," she glanced at Lucius, "A mate who loves me, I have protection, of a sort. I know a lot more about the world than I did a few years ago. What's more, I can see and talk to the fey, and that is something special, even in this world." There was a long pause as she examined her surroundings. "It's so different here to the Western Wilds, everything is so tame, there aren't any banshees or kobolds or ellylldan, or at least they don't show themselves. How different it all is, how bucolic. How safe. How dull."

Lights danced over the surface of the water and Leila watched, enchanted as the tiny naiads cavorted and danced in and out of the water. Some of them came closed to her, drawn by her connection to the Three Fold Goddess, with the bolder ones actually coming right up to the boat. Lucius gave a snort in his sleep and turned over, restlessly and the naiads dashed away, frightened by the strange man. Leila didn't try to call them back but enjoyed watching them dance until she felt sleep dragging to her eyes lids. She curled up next to Lucius who automatically made room for her, and fell asleep.

The sun shone on Leila's face, waking her gently from her sleep. She watched as Lucius also came slowly awake, kissing him gently before sliding off the cabin roof to fix some breakfast. They both hungry and Simon had provided them with generous supplies including bacon, lots of bacon. Despite the mid phase of the moon, there some wolfish characteristics which were never dulled, and both of them tore into their bacon sandwiches with much growling and gobbling. When they had finished and they were covered with bacon grease and crumbs, they looked at each other somewhat sheepishly and laughed.

Leila wiped her face while still laughing. "I love a good bacon sandwich," she said, "The only thing which would make it better is a chicken or two to wrap with around."

"Mmm, chicken," Lucius said, "There's only one thing right now that I could think of that would be more delicious than chicken and bacon." He leered suggestively at her.

Leila laughed again and pushed him away, "We have other things to think about at the moment, Lucius," she said.

Lucius gave a mock sigh of sadness, "I guess you're right." He straightened his shoulders, "Right, let's get going." He unrolled his map and studied it, "Up river for half a day or so. Stoke up the boiler Mr. Midshipman, and lets get underway."

Leila threw a smart salute, "Aye Captain!" she said and went to the boats small engine still chuckling, glad she was able to laugh again. She had been without laughter for so long and she had missed it. In the hold she threw more of the seasoned timber they had picked up at Simon's house into the boiler and encouraged the small fire to grow into a blazing inferno. Steam pressure built up, the engine started turning and the boat chugged gently up the river. Satisfied with her job, and very glad that she had received a crash course in engine maintenance from the man they had bought the boat from, she headed back onto the deck and settled beside Lucius.

The found the hidden by-water through careful use of the map and hid the boat in the overgrown channel, covering it with branches to hide it further then headed in land towards Beantown.

The town was bustling with preparations, all the activity focussed on the town centre. Leila and Lucius headed towards the square, curious as to what was going on. The square was a hive of activity, with people running every which way, rigging up banners, putting up garlands of leaves and flowers, making sure that everything was just so.

"What's going on?" Leila asked a man as he hurried past.

"It's Prince Wendell's coronation," the man said over his arm load of green branches, "He's going to be here this afternoon to receive his gift from Beantown."

"What gift?" Lucius asked.

"The throne, of course," said the man, "Look, they're bringing it out. It's it wonderful."

"It's certainly ornate," Leila commented as she examined the chair being carried reverently to the stage, all gilt and black velvet.

"Our craftsmen worked on it for two years, just for this occasion, it will be the crowning glory of our town."

"Shouldn't that be the throning glory of the town?" Lucius murmured to no one in particular. Leila struggled to swallow her laughter.

"Look, I'd love to chat, but I have things to do," the man said and hurried on.

"They must be excited, usually some one like that would want to talk for hours," Lucius said. "I don't think we're going to get any sense out of these people."

"I agree, let's keep moving on."

On their way along the road they encountered trouble. Five soldiers were manning a road block and halted them imperviously.

"What is your business," one of them demanded.

"We're travellers," Leila said, "We're looking for our family."

"I will need your names and your Kingdoms," the soldier said.

"My name is Leila, from the 2nd Kingdom," Leila said.

"I am Lucius of the White Lands," Lucius said with the dignity he could muster. Neither of them were going to give any more information than they absolutely had to. "What's all this about?" he waved her hand at the barrier across the road.

"The Queen has escaped from prison," the soldier said, satisfied with their answers.

"Queen? Prison?" Leila asked. She had been out of touch with events in the Kingdoms over the last few years and this one was new to her.

"The evil Queen, who poisoned the old king," the soldiers said, "She was thrown in Snow White Memorial Prison years ago, and now she's escaped along with a wolf and three trolls."

A cold shuddered swept over Leila at the mention of trolls, but her ears perked up at the mention of a wolf. "Do you know which wolf?" she asked.

"Why do you want to know?" the soldiers asked suspiciously.

"No reason," Leila said offhand.

"Here comes the Prince's coach!" another of the soldiers shouted, "Make way, clear the road!"

Leila and Lucius were shoved out the way as the barrier was pulled back. A coach led by four matched horses thundered by without slowing down. Leila caught a glimpse of a young man dressed in a white tunic hanging out the window, his tongue poking out. What was even more unusual was the strong scent of magic and… dog… that was left behind.

Lucius helped Leila back to her feet. "Did you smell what I smelt?" he asked her quietly.

"Yes, there was something very wrong with that coach," Leila replied just as quietly. "Sir, where was that coach coming from?"

"The Prince inspected the Snow White Memorial Prison, and now he's on his way to receive his coronation gifts from the people of his Kingdom," the soldier said as his compatriots restored the road block.

"I think we need to investigate this prison," Leila said.


	28. Chapter 28 Snow White Memorial Prison

**Chapter 28 –Snow White Memorial Prison**

Leila crouched behind a fallen tree trunk and studied the huge stone building on the other side of the lake. She was trying not to shake as a volatile cocktail of emotions boiled inside her. Fear was the greatest of the emotions, fear both her own and her brother's. She was afraid of what she would find, would Warren be whole or a broken wreck? Would be he sane? Was he even there or was he the one who escaped?

A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. Lucius knelt beside her as she clutched her hand to her heart, she could feel it pounding in her chest.

"You gave me a fright," she told him.

"Sorry," Lucius said, "Do you think that he is in there?"

"It's the last link in the chain," Leila said, not taking her eyes off the monolithic prison. "If he is not here, I don't know where else to look."

"Would you be offended if I said 'good'?" Lucius asked, trying to keep his voice mild.

Leila still managed to hear the frustration in his voice. "I'm sorry, Lucius, this has taken much longer than I had hoped."

"I suppose I can't really complain, I haven't found my goal either." He gave her a lopsided smile, "But mine is only family pride, not family itself."

"So how do we go about this?" Leila asked. "Do we just march up to the front door and demand answers, or do we try to sneak in and run the risk of getting caught?"

"If he's not in there then it would be foolish to try breaking in," Lucius said.

"And if he is they certainly won't simply let him go because we ask it," Leila said. "So we would have to break in to get him out."

"So the first step is to find out if he is there or not," Lucius said, "And if we were found sneaking around I doubt they would take kindly to it."

"Boldness is the best approach then," Leila concluded, "We go up to the Governor and ask. If he's there we can see about breaking him out, if he isn't, then we are saved the trouble."

An hour later they approached the main gate. The walls loomed over them, seeming as ancient and immoveable as the mountain behind it. Leila shuddered, the place reeked of misery, despair and hopelessness. _Mother Goddess, _she prayed silently_, if he's is there, please let him still be sane_.

She pounded on the door. For a long while nothing happened so she pounded again. Finally a slot in the door opened and a face sneered at them.

"If you want to collect a relative, you'll have to go 'round the back."

"Collect a relative?" Leila asked, could it really be that easy?

"Any dead prisoners are taken out the back," the guard explained impatiently. "If they don't have relatives, we chucks 'em in a hole."

Leila felt her stomach turn. Did they really have so little respect for life here? "No, we've come to see the Governor, I'm looking for my brother and Lucius' grandfather. We're led to believe they are here."

"Who's yer brother?"

"Warren," Leila said, "Warren Wolfson."

"And my grandfather is Grey Volkovich," Lucius said.

"Wolves," the guard sneered, hawked and spat. "Dirty half breed mongrels."

Leila clamped down on her anger. "Will you let us see the Governor or not?"

"Wait here."

The hatch closed and Leila and Lucius were left standing outside the great gate.

"They're here," Leila said, "I know they are." She drew a deep breath, scenting the air. It was heavy with the odors of fear and despair, but she could catch a few tantalizing whiffs of wolf around the door, wolf and human and dog and… magic, lots of magic. "Something strange has happened here," she said.

Lucius breathed deeply as well, "Yes, it's thick with magic, and I think… troll dust."

"I hate trolls," Leila said. Lucius put his arm comfortingly around her shoulders.

The wicket door in the gates opened suddenly, causing both wolves to jump. It was hard to smell anyone through the fug of despair.

"The Gov'nor will see you," he said, and stepped aside to let the pair in. Both were reluctant to cross the threshold, but knew there was not alternative. They stepped through into the dim interior. The scent of blood and magic was almost overwhelming.

The guard led them through the prison to the Governor's office where a small, short haired, vicious looking man glared up at them from behind his desk.

"Wolves," he sneered, "I seem to be plagued with them. What do you want?"

"Sir," Leila said, determined to be polite even if she couldn't be friendly, "I'm looking for my brother, Warren Wolfson, and Lucius is looking for his grandfather, Grey Volkovich and we're led to believe that they are here."

"Grey Volkovich I remember," the Governor said, "He died, about a year ago. He didn't have any relatives so he's buried in the prisoner's graveyard."

Lucius slumped, "I knew," he said softly, his voice full of grief, "I knew when he died, but I tried to deny it."

Leila fumbled for his hand, giving him what support she could in front of the blatant hostility of the Governor.

"Sir, did he have anything with him? A ring?" Lucius asked, pulling himself back upright and looking the Governor full in the face.

"You're lucky, we hold prisoners belongings for a year after their deaths," the Governor said, "Just in case anyone turns up to claim them." He noted the look of surprised on Lucius' face. "I may be called many things, wolf, but thief is not one of them. We do things by the rules here." He sat at his desk and flicked through a big ledger, the top of each page labeled with a date. He scanned a series of pages until he found what he wanted, scrawled a note and thrust it at one of his guards. "Store room 3, rack 12," he instructed without looking to see if his orders were obeyed. They were obeyed, and quickly as the guard scurried away.

"As for Warren Wolfson," the Governor continued, "You've just missed him."

"Missed him? What do you mean?" Leila asked, hope and despair warring inside her. The witches curse again.

"He escaped three days ago," the Governor snarled. "No one has ever escaped from my prison before, and now I may as well opened the doors and let them walk out!" He was shouting, not at the two wolves but at his guards.

Leila jumped and stayed perfectly still against the hurricane of the Governor's wrath as he turned on her, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper.

"Tell me why I should not take you in his place," he asked, "You wolves are all criminals, I'm sure I could find something to convict you of, helping your brother escape, for example."

"Sir," Leila said, "Would I have come here like this if I had helped him escape? I have spent the last ten years looking for him, and I'm not going to give up now."

Further discussion was interrupted by the return of the guard carrying a small canvas sack with a number painted roughly on it. He gave it to the Governor.

"Now," the Governor said, his mood cooling abruptly. "Prove to me that you were Volkovich's grandson."

"The ring, if it's there, has a crest on it, a wolf rampant over a crown with a crescent moon above," Lucius said. "It is the crest of the house of Greyreach, a noble house of the White Lands. As the last surviving member of the blood line, the title and ring are rightfully mine."

Leila was impressed, he sounded so confident and sure of himself. She could see him as the lord of a forest realm, ruling justly and fairly, a haven for all creatures, wolf, human, goblin, elf and whatever other strange creatures lived in the White Lands. No trolls though.

The Governor emptied the small sack, revealing a gold ring. He examined it for a moment then tossed it to Lucius. "I am satisfied that it belongs to you," he said. "Now take it and get out of my sight, both of you, return here and I shall have no compunction about locking you both up."


	29. Chapter 29 The Huntsman

**Chapter 29- The Huntsman**

Leila vaulted onto the dock as soon as the boat was close enough to the Rivertown wharf, quickly tied off the rope, and then took a deep breath. Her brother had been here, she could smell him all over the dock. The other scents were there as well, a female, an older man and, oddly enough, the same dog she had smelt back at the prison. Wolves and dogs had never really interacted well, each reminded the other of what they considered the less desirable parts of their respective natures.

After they had left the Governor's office they had done a little sneaking around and found a hole in the outer wall of the prison close to the River. There had been an odd collection of scents, the dark, moist, earthy scent of a goblin, the slightly acrid, metallic smell of dwarf, a dog, an older man and a girl who were similar enough in scent to be father and daughter, and most importantly to Leila, a hauntingly familiar half-wolf. She had wanted to stay there, breathing in the scent of her lost brother, but events had forced them to moved on.

They had followed the scents down to the River. The goblin's scent ended on the bank, suggesting he had gone to water as goblins were as comfortable in water as on land. The dwarf ended at a bollard and his scent was mixed with coal smoke and steam, indicating that he had taken a boat. The other four ended at another bollard and were mixed in with the rank smell of trolls. The scents were a day or more old and she couldn't read much of what had happened, but there had been a fight, that much was clear, and her brother and his friends had escaped on another boat. Where they went after that was a matter for speculation.

After some consultation with Lucius, they decided to head up stream to Rivertown and the hunch had paid off. They had been here, all of them, even the trolls.

Lucius joined her on the dock.

"He's been here, I can smell him," Leila said. "He headed out of town."

"Do you think we'll need the boat any more?" Lucius asked.

"I doubt it, he's headed towards the Disenchanted Forest."

"I'll see about selling it then, we could always use the money."

Leila nodded distractedly, not really listening to what Lucius was saying, and loped off, following Warren's scent.

"Leila!" Lucius called after her, then threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Your friend is in a hurry," a man who had been watching them commented.

"She's got a lot on her mind. Listen, has any one else been through here in the last couple of days? We're looking for two men, a girl and a dog."

"Yep, they were here just yesterday, caused an all mighty ruckus I can tell you," the man said, settling down for a really good yarn.

"Oh?"

"Yep, they were being chased, see, by these three trolls, and the fella, don't know his name, did something to them and turned them all into gold."

"Gold? Are you sure?"

"Without a doubt. We had to cut the dog away from the trolls," he chuckled at the memory, "It were right funny."

"Was the dog turned to gold too?"

"Yep, they had to put it on a little sled to get it out of town, it were too heavy to carry."

"Which way did they go?"

"Off towards the Disenchanted Forest, but I wouldn't go in there if I were you. Strange things have been going on in that forest."

"Thanks for your advice," Lucius said, "I'd better get after my friend."

"Any time, boy, any time. Oh, by the by, do ye want to sell yer boat or not?"

Lucius stopped just as he was about to take off after Leila. "I do, yes."

The man cast an eye over the boat, appraising it with the skill of long practise. "Nice little boat, go in the chandlers shop and tell them Ol' Mick said you should get 150 gold Wendells for it."

"Thanks again," Lucius said. He thought he was being cheated, but since they had stolen the boat in the first place, he wasn't really looking for a fortune and 150 gold Wendells would see them right for quite some time.

The transaction was fast and Lucius was soon off after Leila, following her scent trail out of town.

****

Leila skidded to a halt and flung herself behind a tree, panting heavily as she did so. The Huntsman was relentless. Across the clearing Lucius was peering out from the tree behind which he had taken sanctuary. They exchanged glances across the open space, there didn't appear to be any sign of the hunter, but that didn't mean he wasn't there.

Warren's scent trail had led them deep into the heart of the Disenchanted forest. They had found the Huntsman's killing ground and the notices posted all over the trees and almost as soon as they had started to read them, Lucius had seen the man himself behind them. They had bolted, trying desperately to escape the Huntsman and his bow, but he had followed even though they had used every trick they knew, crossing water to hide their scents and their prints, crossing rocky ground, but nothing shook him off. Until now.

They waited silently for a few moments, there wasn't a sign or smell of the man. Lucius stood up and stepped cautiously out from behind his tree. At the same time Leila felt the amulet give a great jolt against her chest. _Trap_!

Leila leapt to her feet, a warning shout on her lips as she stepped from her cover, ready to pull Lucius back to safety, but it was too late. At that moment, the Huntsman rose from his hiding place and raised the cross bow, pointing it straight at Lucius. Lucius froze for a moment in indecision, a moment too long as the Huntsman pulled the trigger and an arrow leapt from the bow.

Without a thought, Leila hurled herself in front of Lucius. Lucius gave a heartfelt cry of grief as Leila was slammed against him, the arrow sticking out of her torso. He caught her as she fell, easing her to the ground as the Huntsman, with a small smile of satisfaction, faded into the forest.


	30. Chapter 30 Wolf Magic

**Chapter 30- Wolf Magic**

Leila stared up at Lucius as she lay on leaf covered ground, unable to speak past the agony which was pinning her to the forest floor. She had never felt anything as painful, not in all the time she had been a prisoner of the trolls, not in all her travels. She felt a great conflict inside her, the arrow was killing her, it wanted to kill her, its destiny was to kill her, but the amulet around her neck was stopping it, it was saving her. Leila felt like she was being torn apart by the conflicting magic.

Lucius held her, now knowing what to do as she lay in his arms, her blood all over his hands, his vision blurred by tears. The arrow had hit her just below the heart and even now he could see the light fading from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this is my fault," he whispered to her.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She took one of his hands in hers and guided it to the arrow. She couldn't speak but he could see her request in her eyes. He had to get the arrow out before the magic killed her.

"I can't, you'll die," Lucius said, "You'll bleed to death."

Leila closed his hand around the arrow and nodded, pleading silently with him. _If you don't, the magic will kill me_.

Lucius bit his lip, either way, despite Simon's promise, he was going to loose her, he knew it. He grasped the arrow firmly and pulled sharply. Leila jerked as the arrow came out cleanly, then collapsed into his arms.

"No, Leila!" Lucius cried aloud and hugged her limp body to him, sobbing.

"You can save her," a small voice said above him.

Lucius looked up, a small bird was hovering over him on iridescent wings, flitting from side to side.

"You can save her, but you must hurry!" the bird said, "She is a friend to us, and we will help you. Follow me."

Lucius picked Leila up and stumbled after the bird, not knowing why the bird would want to help them, but accepting it. Anything was worth trying and if Leila died, he would seek out the Huntsman and kill him, it would be his mission for the rest of his life. Leila was his mate, and he wouldn't be able to live without her, he wouldn't want to live without her.

The bird guided him to a clearing where a collection of caravans stood and for a moment Lucius' heart leapt. Gypsies. The designs on the wagons were unfamiliar, they were not of his clan, but they would know how to heal Leila. Then he saw the bodies lying as they fell around the camp and his heart fell again. They were all dead, victims of the Huntsman, just like the dying girl in his arms.

He stumbled across the body of the clan's wise woman, and dropped to his knees, there was no hope now.

_Who are you, young wolf? _

The voice came from the dead woman's lips, but they didn't move, nor did her vacant, staring eyes. That she was dead didn't matter, for a while her spirit lingered on.

"I am Lucius, of the White Lands, adopted of the Eastern Clan," Lucius said. "Please, my mate is dying, tell me how to save her."

_Why should I?_

"She has suffered the same fate as you, the Huntsman shot," he had to stop for a moment, before forcing himself to continue, "he shot her, she's dying."

_She should be dead_, the wise woman said, _The Huntsman never misses. Yet her spirit is still tied to her body._

"An amulet was supposed to protect her. It didn't!" he wailed.

_It did. The arrow did not strike her heart. Go to my wagon, there you will find what you need to save her. _

"I don't know how," Lucius said.

_You are adopted of a gypsy clan, you have been initiated into the mysteries and you are a wolf. Search your memory, you know how to save her._

Lucius nodded and went to her wagon. He still wasn't sure he knew what to do, but when he saw the range of potions, jars and bottles which lined the wise woman's caravan, he remembered. He had been taught something of the healing magics, if only he could remember what to do. He grabbed up some familiar looking things and went back outside.

Leila lay beside the old woman, as still as the corpse next to her. Lucius could feel the tenuous link starting to fade, he didn't have much time. He went to her side and pulled open her shirt to reveal the wound. It was deep and ugly and still bled freely.

"I need help," he said to the wise woman, "I can't remember how to do this on my own."

_I will guide you_, the old woman said.

Lucius worked feverishly, mixing the substances as she guided him then poured the potion onto Leila's wound. He spoke the words of the spell over her, putting all his love and hope into the careful phrases, pleading with the unseen powers which dictated their lives to save her. He called, most fervently, on the Three Fold Goddess, the unseen power which guided Leila through her life. He called, to, on the deep wolf magic, a magic that did not have to be taught, but which every wolf knew deep in their hearts.

He felt something stir inside him, a strange power which was both familiar and incredibly alien. _I am with you_, the voice whispered, _Son of the Moon, heal my daughter_.

A strange, intoxicating power flooded into him, filling him like a pitcher of wine. He took the power, wrapped it around with the deep wolf magic and poured it into Leila's body. For a moment the gypsy magic and the wolf magic clashed and Leila's body bucked.

_Like this_, the old woman said, showing him how to meld the two.

Lucius couldn't describe what it did, by the two powers merged and filled Leila's body with radiance. For a moment nothing happened, then with a jolt, Lucius felt his awareness torn away from his body and thrown into the dream plane. He looked over himself, his long tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. Four furry legs, a flexible spine, a long sensitive nose and two ears which picked up the slightest sounds. His ears moved independently, triangulating sounds he could only just hear. He locked on to them and immediately recognised Leila's voice, she was in trouble!


	31. Chapter 31 Breaking the Curse

**Chapter 31- The Curse is Broken**

Leila floated. She floated in a place where there was no up, no down, no hot or cold, no light or darkness, just her. She no longer knew or remembered anything, she was all there was, all there had ever been, or there ever would be. For a time she existed in a state of perfect serenity.

For what could have been an eternity, or the time between one moment and the next she existed in peace. But something was wrong, something was…. She couldn't put her finger on what the problem was. Something had been left undone? Was that why she hadn't crossed into the Summer Lands? Something needed to be completed before she could rest in the great forests? What was it? What was missing? Who was missing?

A memory floated to the surface of her mind. A lean, handsome face, a strong body, a great grey wolf running beside her. Lucius. Where was he?

Another memory, like a bubble, popped in her mind. An arrow. As the memory came, so did the pain. She opened her eyes and remembered what had happened. She remembered the Huntsman, the cross bow aimed at Lucius. She remembered throwing herself in front of him, protecting him as surely Simon's amulet would protect her. She remembered the arrow missing her heart, but not her body. She remembered the cross bow bolt striking her in the belly.

Looking down at her spirit form she could see the broken shaft of the bolt piercing her body, slowly severing her link with her corporeal body in the mortal realm. She touched it gingerly. Part of her wanted to help the arrow finish its job, break her link with her body and let her reach the Summer Lands and live in peace for all eternity. There she could sleep in the golden warmth of the sun and hunt by the cool silver glow of the moon and there would be no humans or trolls to terrorise and oppress her. Another part of her desperately wanted to the real world where the man she loved was waiting for her. She wanted to finish her task, find her brother, then live happily ever after in Lucius' arms.

What was her task again?

The pain in her belly suddenly flared and shot through her body. She screamed as felt something, a blade, being pushed hard into her body, tearing her soul apart. Her eyes shot open and she saw a hideous hag bending over her, holding her life line in one hand while the other sliced at her spirit form with a black bladed dagger.

Leila remembered everything in a great flash and swung her fist, hitting the witch in the side of the head and sending her tumbling head over heels. Leila moaned and curled around the wound in her body, realising that her body was no longer just a spirit form, it had depth and substance, substance which could be damaged. She clamped her hand to the wound and looked around her. With the change in her body had come a change in the space she was in. She was no longer in the place between life and death, somehow the witch had dragged her into the dream plane. But this was no her dreamscape. This dreamscape was a featureless plain, a vast stony desert under a black starless sky. This was the witch's realm.

Leila closed her free hand around the arrow shaft and tried to pull it out, but the pain stopped her before she release it. The arrow was buried too deep for her to extract it, especially with the witch coming screaming at her again, the black dagger tight in her hand. Leila twisted to one side and witch missed her stab, but she did manage to kick Leila in the head as she flew by. Leila fell, dazed by the blow. Her instincts alone saved her as she rolled out of the way of the descending blade and managed to get back to her feet.

She was, she realised, at a real disadvantage here. Not only was she in her enemies realm, but she was still in her human form and without a weapon she was practically helpless. One advantage she did have was that on the dream plane she could her change her form at will and flashed into her wolf form. Unfortunately the change in form did little to dull the pain of her wounds.

The witch pulled sharply as she came across a muzzle full of needle sharp teeth bared against her. The witch laughed aloud. "Do you really think that you can stop me like that, little wolf?" she taunted.

"Why are you doing this?" Leila demanded, "Why can't you just leave me and my family alone!"

"I want your body, little wolf, or that of your brother, it doesn't really matter which." The witch feinted right.

Leila leaped and twisted to land facing her enemy again. "Why us?"

"Do you think a fully human body can contain my power?" the witch sneered, "They are weak in body and in mind. I need body that has been touched by magic, that _is_ magic, then I can return to the world again. Only then."

Leila felt cold. The witch's goal was clear now, destroy her soul, or trap it here in her domain and take over her body. With Leila's body and the depth of evil she had at her finger tips, the witch could rule the whole world. She couldn't let that happen.

Leila lunged at the witch, intending to ter off whatever chunk of her she could reach, but the arrow in her belly and the wound inflicted by the witch's knife made her slow and clumsy and the witch dodged easily. While Leila was regaining her equilibrium, the witch flung herself onto Leila's back and wrapped her long, bony fingers around Leila's neck and squeezed. Leila gasped and wheezed as the witch squeezed and the world around her started to wave. She wasn't breathing air as such in the dream plane, but the equivalent was being denied and without it she would die just as surely as her physical body would die from lack of air.

Gathering together her strength Leila gave a couple of mighty bucking leaps, trying to throw the witch from her back, but the witch had wrapped her legs around Leila's body and held on, laughing with glee as her fingers tightened. Leila's vision was going dark, her connection to her physical body was failing, she was going to die and the witch was going to have her body. She collapsed onto her belly. She could feel her connection to her body becoming thinner, and the pull of the afterlife was becoming stronger.

Another furry body slammed into the witch, knocking her from Leila's body as she collapsed, then stood over the witch, growling. Leila, her vision returning and her tenuous link with her physical body strengthening, looked up to behold a magnificent grey timber wolf.

"Lucius!" she cried gratefully, even though her voice grated harshly.

The great grey wolf flashed her a broad, tongue lolling grin before turning his attention to the creature between his huge paws.

"You!" the witch snarled, "You won't come between me and my prize!"

Lucius said nothing, but snarled with equal ferocity and lunged at the witch, sinking his fangs into her leg as she tried to scramble away. The witch howled and with a great heave, threw Lucius away from her, a chunk of ethereal flesh still between his teeth. He spat it out with a bark of triumph. The witch laughed contemptuously as her spirit form regenerated in moments. It was hard for a wolf to show shock and consternation, but somehow Lucius managed.

"I'm not so easily defeated as that," the old hag sneered, "I know the dreaming places in ways you couldn't even begin to imagine."

Lucius had retreated to stand protectively over Leila who had regained her feet and now stood beside him, two huge wolves, their manes bristling and their teeth bared. They would have been a ferocious and terrifying sight for anyone other than the witch.

The witch laughed again, and with a strange, eye bending wriggle, started to change her shape. Her twisted, withered body filled out, turning into a great barrel torso, her arms legs thickened and lengthened, her hands and feet sprouting claws, her neck grew longer, her face extended into a muzzle full of fangs as long as a mans hand. Within second a massive beast towered over them, a vile parody of magnificent form of a dragon covered with scales of a strange, nauseating colour which seemed to shift sickeningly across the spectrum. Worse was to come as the creature gave its head a mighty shake and split in two. Each half regenerating and becoming a new head and neck. Each head peered down at the wolves with tiny red eyes while black venom dripping from its fangs.

Quick a striking snake the heads flashed down towards the wolves. Leila and Lucius flung themselves clear, Lucius yelping with pain as a flying drop of venom burned into his rump.

Acting as true wolves came easily to them and they worked together without having to communicate their intentions. They both attacked the beasts rear legs, sinking teeth into tendons and ripping at scales until, with a howl of pain, the beast kicked backwards. They were ready for the move and dodged to renew their attack. This time they changed tactics. Lucius attacked one of the heads while Leila continued to gnaw at a hind leg, acidic ethereal blood burning her mouth as she bit down. They darted in, tearing at the beast, then dodged away before the beast could turn to attack them.

The strategy proved effective for a short time, keeping the witch occupied with defence until she gathered her thoughts and suddenly turned, one head towards each wolf, and let out a huge gout of flame. The wolves retreated, driven back by the dark, sooty flame and the witch took the opportunity to give both heads an almighty shake and split both of them in two. Four vile heads laughed in unison at the wolves.

Leila and Lucius exchanged glances. Both were wounded, Leila hampered by the arrow in her belly and slash in her side, Lucius limping from an acid burned leg and claw slash across his back. They wouldn't last much longer against the witch, they were doomed.

_It can't end like this!_ Leila thought as she started in horror at the four heads, _Great Goddess, it can't end like this!_ She threw back her head and howled her cry for help to all of existence.

Humans throughout all the 9 Kingdoms stopped what they were doing as an unearthly howl sounded across the land. People felt the primal terror of the night. Mothers clutched their children tight, shepherds raised their staves, looking for the world lurking in the shadows, soldiers and men-at-arms half drew their weapons, and in the forests wolves and half wolves everywhere raised their voices to join the call to the Moon.

The cry was heard, and in the dream plane the witch faltered for a moment. Out of the sky silver light spiralled down to surround the creature and with a cry of despair the beast started to collapse in on itself. Its heads fused back into one, its neck shrunk. Its claws retracted and its body shrivelled until the witch was forced back into her original shape of a scrawny old hag.

Leila and Lucius took full advantage of the Goddess's intervention and darted in to rip and tear at the shrieking, screaming witch until she was bleed black 'blood' from a dozen wounds.

"Damn you!" the witch screamed, "You and that Three Faced bitched. If I can't have you I will take another who doesn't have your protection!" With that, she fled.

Leila swayed on her paws for a moment in the sudden silence before realization suddenly struck home. She had won. The witch was gone. The curse was lifted.

She collapsed.

"No, Leila!"

Leila forced her eyes open, Lucius was kneeling next to her in human form, clutching her to him. He looked strange, sort of transparent and she felt a growing sense of detachment. The pain that had been pushed aside during the fight with the witch was now fading. She looked down at the glowing spot where the arrow had pierced her lifeline. The silver thread which attached her to her corporeal body was fraying, almost broken. She was dying. She gazed up at Lucius, he was fading away. Or was she fading away?

"Lucius."

It was not Leila's voice that spoke. Leila forced her eyes open again. A glowing figure was standing beside Lucius, Her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you love her?" the Goddess, a beautiful young woman with long hair as black as night.

"With all my heart," Lucius said as he held her to him protectively, unsure of what this beautiful deity wanted from him.

"Would you give you life for her?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation, no qualification, just a simple statement.

"Would you share your life with her?" the Goddess asked, now a matronly woman, her black hair streaked with silvery swathes and bound back from her no longer young but somehow timeless face.

"Can I do that?" Lucius asked.

The Goddess nodded and changed again, this time into an old woman, the one who knew what death was and conversed with it every day. "Hold her close, your heart to hers."

Lucius did so.

"One life for two, bound together, two as one," the Goddess intoned softly, her old voice ringing with the power of three spoken in unison. "Pull the arrow out."

Lucius reached down and grasped the broken arrow shaft. Leila held his eyes with hers, holding onto him, an anchor to stop her from slipping away into the arms of death. With a single rapid movement, Lucius pulled the arrow free. Leila cried out and her eyes, her real eyes, flew open. Lucius lay beside her under a huge spreading tree, a bloody cross bow bolt in his hands.

Leila reached out tentatively with one hand and touched his cheek. His eyes fluttered open and for a few moments they lay there, simply gazing at each other. One life for two, bound together for all the time they spent in the mortal realm.

"We are one," Lucius said at last, "Now and forever."


	32. Chapter 32 War

Authors note

Thank you to all those readers who have been following the adventures of Leila and Lucius, some of you for years! It's been a long journey through many countries for them and me. Now at long last we have actually caught up with the story of the 10th Kingdom and our heroes are entering the end game.

Warning- the next few chapters have a few horror movie moments. Not too explicit, but the warning is there anyway.

**Chapter 32- War**

Leila shaded her eyes as they stepped out of the shade of the forest and into bright sunshine. The day was bright and both of the half-wolves were still keyed up from the night full moon. The Moon had done much to heal Leila's physical injuries and she was ready to travel again after only two days of recovery. Lucius had spent the time burying the murdered Gypsies. He was not of their clan and they songs of passing he sang for them were not theirs, but he didn't think they would be angry with him for his improvisation.

They had spent the night in the forest, hunting through the shadows until they brought down a small deer and gorged themselves on its flesh before collapsing together in a tangle of arms and legs. The freedom they had with each other, deep in the forest and away from human habitation was as intoxicating as strong wine.

In the morning, when their wolf natures were still asleep, they had talked. Leila still wanted to go after her brother, and now that the curse was lifted she would actually be able to get near to him, but the witch's words had worried her. The hag was intending to take a mortal body again and take control of the Kingdoms and she needed to be stopped.

It wasn't an easy choice to make. The witch wanted Warren for something, but Leila didn't know what, and that made her anxious to find him, but at the same time the Prince needed to be warned of what was happening. He had magicians, wizards, white witches and the Fairy Queen to call on for aid against this attack and it was vital that they had time to prepare. In the end they had decided to go the castle of Prince Wendell and see what they could do to convince him of the imminent danger.

Now, leaving the forest, they stepped out to see soft, fertile fields rolled away as far as the eye could see. Leila thought it was quite beautiful in a dull, tame, bucolic way, until she saw the pall of smoke on the horizon.

"Lucius, look," she said, pointing to the smoke. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, let me see where we are," he said and unrolled the map. The dot showed that they were on the north side of the forest, not far from the border with the 2nd Kingdom and close to Appletown. From the direction of the smoke, he guessed that something in the town was on fire.

"I think that's Appletown over that way," he said, "And from the looks of it, they have a pretty serious fire."

"We should go and help," Leila said.

"That's not a good idea," Lucius said, "The 4th Kingdom isn't as violently opposed to wolves as the 2nd, but I don't think we should take risks so close to the full moon."

"I know," Leila said, "But the moon has passed, and we may be able to help. At least let us go and see if they have things under control or not."

"Well, a bit of investigation can't hurt," Lucius said reluctantly.

They approached the town carefully, going from cover to cover and trying very hard not to be seen. It didn't take long to realised that all was far from well in Appletown. The wind changed direction, blowing the smoke towards them and bringing with it the rank stench of trolls.

Leila froze as the familiar scent of Relish washed over her and she was hurled back five years, memories she had buried deep inside bursting to the surface. She felt waves of overwhelming terror as the images flashed through her mind. Pain, fear, imprisonment and things of which she could not speak, all with Relish's face looming large, laughing joyously as he subjected the young half-wolf to yet more humiliation and torture. She stumbled blindly to a tree and collapsed against it, curling in a ball at its base, trying to hide from all the memories of the past.

She felt hands on her and screamed in panic, lashing out at her attacked. Her wrists were caught in a vice like grip and Relish was above her, laughing.

"Leila, it's all right," Lucius' voice came from Relish's mouth, "It's all right, it's Lucius, I'm here, you're safe."

Leila stared past her fear and Relish's face dissolved into the familiar features of her mate. She threw herself into his arms and cried into his shoulder as he held her, stroking her hair and whispering comforting words that were hardly heard as she slowly regained control over her wildly spinning thoughts and emotions.

Finally she choked back a sob and took a deep, shuddering breath to calm herself and loosened her death grip on him.

"I… I'm sorry, Lucius," she said, "I didn't mean to fall apart like that. I thought that I had dealt with everything that happened to me. Obviously I hadn't."

"It's all right," Lucius said, "You've been through a lot and it would take a saint to come out with other end without some trauma."

"And I'm no saint," Leila said, trying a shaky smile. "I want to leave, now."

Lucius nodded and helped her to her feet. "We'll go back to the forest, they won't follow us in there."

"To late," a rough voice said behind them. Eight trolls were watching them, leering with anticipation.

The two wolves back up against the tree and readied themselves for the inevitable attack. The trolls came in a rush and Leila slammed her fist into the first troll's face as hard as she could. He stumbled backwards, his nose streaming blood, but another quickly took his place, and another until the two wolves were surrounded.

"I don't know about you," she said over her shoulder to Lucius, her terror driving a surge of adrenaline through her body, "But I'm not going down without a fight."

"I'm with you," he said, his eyes flashing gold as he fought.

"Hey, they're wolves," one of the trolls shouted.

"Even better, we can have some fun with them, get 'em," the chief shouted back.

The pair fought ferociously, but there was too many trolls and within an embarrassingly short period of time they were both on the ground, pinned down with their hands tied behind their backs.

"I'm sorry, Lucius," she said softly.

"Not your fault," Lucius replied as they were jerked to their feet.

The trolls were arguing over them, trying to decide what to do to them and both wolves felt their stomachs turn to water as they were forced to listen to the plans. Finally, the trolls settled on burning them.

The trolls dragged the two wolves into the town square, passing burning buildings and groups of trolls ransacking houses. Lines of chained men and women being pushed and prodded along, heading out of the town towards the 3rd Kingdom and slavery and here and there were the remains of those who had tried to fight the onslaught, lying where they fell in pools of their own blood.

Leila swallowed heavily and turned her face away from the bodies, tears pricking her eyes. She remembered only to well what the trolls had done their slaves, how they had killed them slowly with back breaking labour and brutal treatment. Maybe those who had died were the lucky ones.

Their escort pushed them into the town centre.

"We've got a couple of wolves here," one of the guards shouted to the throng of roistering trolls, "How about we have a barbeque!"

"Hey, set up a stake," another called, "We'll soften them up a bit."

Coarse laughter greeted his suggestion and Leila and Lucius were hurled into the crowd. They were shoved back and forth between the laughing trolls, unable to fight back with their hands bound. Lucius fell and the trolls closed on him, their boots slamming into his chest, his back and his head. He curled into a protective ball and Leila threw herself over him, trying to shield him from the blows.

One of the officers hauled Leila upright, his eyes widening as he recognised her. "Hey, I know this one," he said, stopping the rest from pounding Lucius further. He grabbed Leila by the shoulders and examined her.

Leila tried to turn away from his stinking breath and the terror that made her shake, but her jerked her face back towards him. He tossed her to another troll who held her as he ripped open the back of her shirt, revealing the troll brand on her shoulder and the old scars that laced her back. He took her back, holding her by the throat. "You should be dead," he said to her, "You jumped off a cliff five years ago, into the River." He grinned, "Relish is going to love having you back."

He pushed her into another grasp and picked up Lucius. Lucius stared blearily at him, trying to focus.

"I don't know you," the troll officer said, "But I'm sure the King will have fun finding out. Lock them up with rest of the slaves," he ordered his troops, "We'll send them back to the 3rd Kingdom."

There were protests from the trolls.

"You can have your fun with them there," the officer promised, "In the mean time, why don't you go play with some of the humans."

The trolls roared their delight and Lucius and Leila were dragged off again. They were hurled into the towns tithe barn where two dozen or so other humans were huddled, frightened and cowed by the sudden influx of trolls into their otherwise peaceful lives. Their bonds were cut and chains closed around their wrists and ankles, connecting them to the rest of the humans.

When they were gone, Leila knelt by Lucius and cradled him in her arms. The trolls had done a fair amount of damage and he was drifting in and out of consciousness. Blood smeared his face where one iron soled boot and split his skin and dark bruises were already forming.

"Here."

Leila looked up, a woman of middle age, dressed in the conservative garb of a wife and mother held out a half filled bucket of water with a couple of rags draped over the side. The woman sported bruises and was chained as all the others.

"Thankyou," Leila said, taking a rag and wiping the worse of the blood from her mates face. "You're very kind."

"You have suffered at the trolls hands before?" Her voice was full of concern and sympathy and more than a little fear. Leila understood that fear only to well, her body was a testament to what these good folk could expect if the trolls took them to their kingdom as slaves.

"I have," Leila said, trying in vain to pull closed the torn cloth of her shirt, chains clattering as she did. She was on the verge of panic as memories resurfaced. She tried to concentrate on Lucius, focussing on his injuries and doing what she could to help him. "I escaped."

"What will they do to us?" another townsman asked, this time a man clad in well made garments indicating prosperous middle rank.

Leila carefully laid Lucius down and placed the rag in the bucket. She could feel a stirring inside her. She wasn't going to go down without a fight, and she certainly wasn't going to be dragged back to the trolls castle for more humiliation and torture. The moon was not long set, the Goddess would lend Leila her strength to fight. She was not going to surrender, not now, not every again.

"Great Goddess," she whispered to the unseen power which had guided her through years of wandering, "Grant me the strength to do what must be done."

"_I am with you, always,_" the echoing whisper of three voices came back to her.

She stood up and faced the people. She faced the cowering townsfolk and deliberately reached behind her to free her tail. The last power of the Moon and the Three Fold Goddess sang through her veins and her tail was in its full silvery glory. Driven by strong emotion and iron hard will, her eyes flashed gold and she could feel her teeth lengthening.

A gasp rose from the people as they realised what she was, the creature from their nightmares and deepest desires, filled with fury and passion, strength and power. She was what they feared in the dark the night when the winds howled through the eaves and rattled the shutters. She was what wailed in the depths of the forest, striking terror into their hearts. Hers were golden eyes that glowed in the deep shadows, watching, waiting to strike.

Now she was ready to strike and she would strike with all her power at those who had haunted her dreams and made her cower in fear. She would strike at the trolls. She looked down at her chains and contemptuously snapped them with a single jerk. Kneeling down, she put her hand on Lucius' chest.

"By the bond we share, I give you my strength," she said quietly, willing her Goddess given strength to flow into his body, a healing warmth rising from bottomless well. She could give as much as he could take and not be diminished.

Lucius' eyes flickered open, clear and focussed. "There is some advantage to being life bonded after all," he said.

"How are you feeling?"

Lucius grinned up at her, she was like the incarnation of Morrigan, the Warrior Goddess, she glowed with inner fire and determination. He could kneel at her feet and worship her, but she wouldn't like that, she wanted him to fight at her side, and he would. To the last breath. Drawing on her radiant power and the vestiges of Change, he called on his inner wolf. "Like an animal," he said, a wolf's growl below the words. Leila helped him to his feet and he snapped the chains confining him with ease.

The townsfolk shrank back from the two demons before them.

"The trolls will kill you, one by one if they take you back to their Kingdom, slowly and painfully," Leila said, "I know, I have been there and I will never allow myself to be taken back again. I will die before that happens, and I will take as many of them as I can with me. Will you put aside your fears and fight with us, or will you cower like frightened rabbits and die as easily?"

The wife stepped forward a pace. "My husband is dead, but my children are here," she said, her face was pale with fear, but her voice strong with renewed determination, "I will not let the trolls do to them what was done to you. I will fight with you."

"So will I," another said, "They invade our lands, slaughter our people. It's time to put a stop to this."

"I will fight," said a ready, old voice and a decrepit old woman hobbled forward. "I may not be as spry as I once was, but give me a stick and I will show these monsters what 80 years of experience can do."

Other voices soon joined the chorus and rallied around the two wolves. Leila and Lucius quickly broke the chains holding them and they armed themselves with whatever they could find.

"They will come for us soon," Lucius said, "They will expect broken, frightened prisoners ready to follow their orders, they won't be ready for fighters, we must overcome them. You, you, you and you," he pointed to four of the strongest, most determined looking of the prisoners, three men and a woman, "You will stand with Leila and I and we will rush the doors as soon at they are unlocked. You two, on the left flank, you and you, on the right." He placed more strong, resilient people on either side of the crowd of mostly old or young or decrepit townsfolk to protect the sides of the group. He knew they were willing to fight and die, but the fewer casualties the better.

Leila organised the inner ranks, placing the youngest and oldest in the middle and the mothers and older children around them. With any luck they would get away cleanly while the rest of them distracted the troll soldiers. "You are to run," she instructed them, over their protests, "I know you want to fight, and that is admirable, but you are the life of this town, your children are the future and your elders are your memory. No matter what, you must escape so Appletown will live on, wherever you go." She did not add that these non-fighters would just get in the way and provide the trolls with potential human shields should they get their hands on them.

Within minutes the group was formed up. Their armaments were pitiful when compared to the trolls armour and weaponry, consisting only of lengths of wood or things tied to lengths of rope to use as makeshift flails, but these people were fighting for their lives and both Leila and Lucius knew that that alone would provide them with an advantage.

On the other side of the huge barn doors the trolls were approaching. The prisoners could hear them laughing and making crude jokes and the two wolves could smell their vile stench on the wind. The bar on the outside of the doors was lifted, Leila and Lucius crouched, ready to pounce as soon as the doors were opened. They were pulled back and the wolves charged, the townsfolk behind them.

The trolls were caught completely off guard. Instead of terrified, cowering prisoners, they were faced with a wave a determined fighters. The first few trolls went down with gurgling screams, but the few seconds it took the villages to kill them gave the others time enough to draw their weapons and make ready.

Leila saw the merchant snatch up an axe from a fallen troll and hew into the next, only to be felled by a third. His weapon was taken by another who slew his killer. All around them the villagers fought with courage and ferocity borne of desperation. Leila needed no weapons by her hands and teeth and she killed two trolls without even thinking of her movements. She paused briefly and looked for the children and elders. They had followed orders and were running for the safety of the forest, but there were three trolls after them.

Leila shouted to Lucius and pointed. Lucius collared four of the villagers who had managed to arm themselves, including one of the women, and ran after the trolls. Leila trusted him to take care of the situation and turned back to those beside her.

A number of the villagers lay dead on the grass, but there were trolls as well, their dark blood seeping into the grass. More and more of the villagers were armed and the trolls were in retreat from their ferocious attack.

Leila ran with them, seeking out the leaders of troop and quickly found them sprawled outside the tavern, swilling ale and laughing. The laughter died quickly when they saw the approaching tide. They all leaped to the feet and raised their weapons.

Three villagers were killed, taking one of the troll lieutenants with them before Leila called them back.

"You are not welcome here," she snarled at the Captain, the one who had recognised her, "Leave now and you leave with your lives."

The troll Captain laughed and spat on the ground between them. "Do you really think a puny little puppy like you can take me on? I've eaten your kind, you're not as tough as you pretend."

"I did give you a chance," Leila said, "Tell that to the troll gods when you meet them tonight."

"I'll send you on ahead to warn them." He ran at her, swinging a massive broad sword.

Leila watched the blade coming towards her. Her senses had been heightened by her Change and the blade seemed to be moving ludicrously slow. She stepped out of the way and the Captain, overextended and off balance by his overconfidence, almost fell onto the fist she drove into his nose. She grabbed him behind the neck turned and heaved him over her shoulder and onto the ground. He rolled back onto on knee and swiped at her with his left hand and Leila realised almost too late that there was a dagger in it. She dodged most of the thrust but the tip caught her, opening up a gash across her shoulder.

The wound made Leila more angry than anything else and she dived in under his guard and sank her fangs into his neck. For a moment his pumping life blood poured over his teeth, acrid and metallic, then he fell still.

Leila stood slowly, spitting blood and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She had never killed a sentient creature before this day, and now she had killed at least three trolls. She didn't know how she felt. Part of her was horrified by what she had done, part of her stood back and howled with joy. She felt torn apart as her remorse and her vengeance warred with her emotions.

For several long seconds she stared at the troll Captain, remembering the leering faces, the laughter, the glee they had taken in hurting her. She turned resolutely away.

Around her the villagers watched her. She looked at each face in turn. Some showed shock, some showed a certain amount of disgust, some showed awe, many were wary, but respectful. None of them showed any hatred directed at her.

One of them turned away from her. For a moment her spirit plummeted, they would shun her, they would hate her, they would drive her out. When the woman turned back again she was holding a cloth she had just dampened at the well. Leila kept her eyes carefully on the woman's face as she took it and wiped as much of the blood off her own face as she could. The woman was gazing at her with something Leila had never thought to see. Hero worship.

She was no hero. Was she?

Lucius was by her side then. "They are running for the 3rd Kingdom," he said with delight, "And I don't think they're going to stop until they are safely in their castle."

"We have won?" Leila asked.

"We have," Lucius said.

The power that had kept Leila going abruptly drained away, her legs collapsed under her and she sat down heavily.


	33. Chapter 33 Resistance

Hello all.

My apologies for taking so long to get this to you, I promised myself I would post more regularly, but this gave my some problems.

For those who know the 10th Kingdom timeline better than I do I also apologise, as I'm stretching out the time of the film to accommodate what our friends are up to, please don't get upset!

More horror movie scenes in this chapter, but only relatively mild ones.

**Chapter 33- Resistance**

Leila sat on one of the cots in a makeshift hospital with her shoulder being dressed by the same woman who had given her the cloth to wipe the troll blood off her face. When she was done and Leila was dressed in a new shirt, she knelt down in front of her.

"I watched that Captain kill my beloved," the woman, Marian, said. "Matt tried to stand up to them and they tortured him to death. I thought that my life was over. Everything that was important to me was ripped away. I lost all hope. What you did today has won you many friends."

"I… I have never really had human friends before," Leila said hesitantly, "Only a mad old hermit and Lucius' family." _Outcasts, all of them_, she thought.

"Well, you have friends here. The people of Appletown will always welcome you."

Leila looked around the makeshift hospital. There were dozens wounded to various degrees, and off in one corner she saw a weeping woman pulling a sheet over someone's face. It made her angry and sad to see that the trolls could cause so much damage, and for what? What did they want?

"It isn't over," she said very softly.

"What was that?" Marian asked.

"This isn't over. The trolls have been driven out here, but there are other towns and villages around, have they been invaded too?"

"Yes," Marian said sadly. "I heard that Beantown has been almost destroyed and that Huntersford and Queensbridge are under troll control."

"Then we will have to do something about that," Leila said and struggled to her feet. She swayed for a moment before regaining her balance. "Where is Lucius?"

"Here."

The well loved voice sounded behind her. Leila turned and was almost immediately embraced by her mate. He was bruised and there was a scrape down one cheek, but he wasn't bleeding and he was moving without pain. Wolf or half-wolf constitution was a blessing in these situations.

"You're all right," Lucius whispered into her hair as he held her close.

"I think so," Leila said. "I killed him, Lucius."

"I know." He held her away from him for a moment and studied her face, "He would have killed you if he could, like so many others here. It was you or him."

"But I enjoyed it," Leila said, feeling remorse rising inside her. "What if I do it again? What if I really am a monster who only lives to kill?"

"Don't say that," Lucius said, "You're not a monster. If you didn't feel bad about, then I would say yes, you are a monster, but you do, so you aren't. Does that make sense?"

"In a round about way," Leila said with a weak chuckle. "I wish I could say I won't ever kill anyone ever again, but I don't think that I could make that promise, not at the moment."

"You heard about the other towns?"

Leila nodded, "We have to do something, we can't let the trolls win."

"If you want to fight them, we're with you." A man's voice made the wolves turn.

Standing behind them were six village men, all armed with weapons purloined from the trolls, all with expressions of pure determination on their faces.

"We're not trained fighters, but this is our country, and we will fight to defend it," the spokesman said, "If you will lead us."

"You want us to lead?" Leila asked. "You know what we are?"

"Wolves? Yes. I won't say that I'm not afraid of you," he said honestly, "It's the way I, all of us, were raised, but you showed that you're on our side today and, well, better the devil you know…"

"Than the trolls," Leila finished. "We can't take on the trolls face to face, there aren't enough of us for that, and they are trained and armed, but we can fight like wolves, if you are willing to learn from us."

The men exchanged looks, then nodded. Leila and Lucius also exchanged a glance. It seemed that without intending, they were going to lead a resistance.

"Go and find out who else wants to join us," Lucius said, "Then get some supplies together, nothing more than you can carry easily, and meet back here in an hour."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Leila asked him when the village men had gone, "This isn't your fight."

"It is now," Lucius said. "You told me once that the Three Fold Goddess said you would unit humans and wolves. I think that you've just been shown how."

"I'm no hero!" Leila protested.

"Yes you are," Lucius said firmly. "Now, let's see about letting these trolls know they are not welcome here."

*/\*/\*

Leila signalled to her troops, waiting in ambush beside the road. The signal came back, they were all ready. She glanced across the road, she could just see Lucius who nodded, his men were ready too.

The first thing they heard was the clattering of chains, then the rough voices of the trolls as they herded their prisoners along, then finally their prey came into view. Eight trolls escorting a score of prisoners and heading towards the 3rd Kingdom. The ambushers tensed as the troop passed below them. They reached the pre-arranged mark and were suddenly surrounded by more than twenty heavily armed and determined fighters.

The ambush was over quickly. Four trolls lay dead, the rest were running for home with terror filled tales of trees that came to life and animals that attacked with swords and daggers. Three of the fighters had been hurt- one badly, two of the prisoners had also been wounded when they had realised what was going on and waded in using their chains as weapons. All were now in Marian's care and she cleaned and dressed the wounds with practised efficiency.

It had been four days since the events at Appletown, and the number of civilians fighting for freedom had risen to almost 30.

Their first stop had been Queensbridge where they had found a village left as burned out ruins and the few remaining residents hiding, traumatised, in the surrounding countryside. They had told the small rag tag band of freedom fighters that the trolls had marched out three days before, taking the survivors with them and burning the town as they left.

Leila was disheartened at first. There was nothing they could do for the Queensbridge survivors, three days was enough to get them over the boarder into the 3rd Kingdom. They would have to see about rescuing them later, first they needed to stop the trolls in this Kingdom.

They had marched as quickly as possible for Hunterford where the trolls were still gathering slaves and ravaging the country. Four of the survivors from Queensbridge had gone with them.

In Hunterford the trolls were still having fun, up until their troops started vanishing, one by one in the night only to be found the next day in the square. Dead. The trolls scoured the village for whoever was haunting them, but could find no one. They hadn't bothered to look among the cowering slaves, they hadn't noticed that there seemed to be more there than before, nor did they notice that their prisoner's chains were held closed only by the slimmest sliver of steel.

The trolls, already on edge, were kept awake the following night by wolves howling. At times they seemed a long way off, other times they seemed to be right outside the door. By morning the invaders were jumping at every shadow and as more of their numbers were picked off by random arrows from the shadows or pebbles flung hard enough to kill, they were ready to run.

The final nail in the coffin came that evening, just as the sun was setting, when a ghost appeared in the square. It was a young woman, her face grey, her eyes sunken and dark, blood from a fatal wound on her neck staining the front of her tattered dress. She was moaning and gurgling, her pale eyes wide and blank as she shambled towards the trolls. From the shadows other ghosts appeared, men, women and children, all with ghastly wounds, some with broken chains hanging from them, some with weapons still sticking from their body, all moaning and groaning as they closed on the trolls.

The trolls, superstitious at the best of times, ran in terror. The ghosts, appearing from between houses all around them as they ran pulled down the slowest of the soldiers. The rest didn't stop to see what happened to them.

Leila, Lucius, the Appletown freedom fighters and the volunteers from Huntersford celebrated that night, still in their make up, dancing around a large fire in the square like a band of ghouls celebrating in the depths of Hell. They had a wonderful time.

The next morning they had left with their ranks swollen by more volunteers and a resolution from the people of the town that they would never again let invaders take them. The surviving town Councilman was already organising the training and equipping of a town militia.

The hamlet of Fletching was the next stop. The village was whole, but deserted. The trolls had simply taken everyone they could lay their hands and kept marching. Leila and Lucius decided to go after the prisoners first, but Leila had smelt something ominously familiar in the small cluster of houses. Relish, the troll King had passed through only a few days before. She wanted to go after him, but sense prevailed. If the prisoners reached the 3rd Kingdom they would suffer as she had done, and that, to her, was not an option.

It hadn't taken long to catch up with the slow moving convoy and they had set their trap carefully. Now, with the inhabitants of Fletching free, Leila could turn her attention to other matters.

"I want to go after Relish," she said to Lucius as Marian bound up a shallow wound on his arm. "If we can stop him, the trolls will be leaderless and Relish would never let another troll gain enough power to challenge him. With luck the rest should just run back to their own land."

"Are you sure you can face him?" Lucius asked.

"If I don't I'll never be able to put my demons to rest," Leila said. "Either way, it has to come to an end."

"I'll stand with you, but don't go rushing into a fight with him without thinking it through first."

"I thought you were the impulsive one," Leila said, grinning at him. "Remember the river in the 6th Kingdom?"

"I'm impulsive," Lucius acknowledged, "You sometimes rush in without considering all the angles. Remember Thorny Bay?"

Leila blushed. "All right, we both have our flaws. I won't rush in without thinking about it, so long as you don't."

"Don't worry, I think I've learned my lesson on that score. Thanks Marian."

"When do we march out?" Marian asked as she tied off the bandage.

"You want to come too?" Leila asked. Marian had been a great help to them, her expertise as a doctor had been invaluable and she had supported every decision they had made. And made a very convincing ghost.

"You're right, cut off the head and with luck the body will die too," she said. "Relish is the problem here."

"We leave in an hour, before the trail goes cold," Lucius said.

"I'll pass the word," Marian said.

When she had gone the two wolves looked at each other.

"How in Luna's name did we manage to become the commanders of a small army?" Leila asked in a slightly bewildered manner.

"Wolves naturally form a pack," a voice said from the trees, "And the dominant pair always become the leaders. That would be you."

Leila and Lucius leaped to their feet, both with weapons in their hands.

"Show yourself," Lucius commanded.

"I come to you in peace, I will not hunt in your territory, nor settle upon your lands without your permission," the speaker said as he stepped out from behind a tree.

His greeting and manner told the pair of young wolves who he was in an instant. For a long moment they watched each other carefully. The newcomer was advancing in years with thick swathes of grey in his dark hair and lines on his face, but he was strait, tall and strongly built. He had been down wind of the wolves, his scent hidden from them. It came to them now, the unmistakeable scent of wolf. Full wolf. He bowed before the pair, but there was a twinkle in his eye. He was a pack leader, but at the moment, it amused him to defer to the youngsters.

"My greetings to you, brother," Leila said, bowing back to the wolf. "You are welcome to join us."

The old wolf came to them and they sat on the ground, weapons sheathed, postures as relaxed as they could make them.

"My name is Sirius," the wolf said, "I have been tracking you for several days, after I heard tell of a young half wolf, beloved of the great Goddess we all revere, who defeated the Hag on the dream plane. You are growing into legend, young wolf," he said to Leila. "And you, stranger," he turned his piercing eyes on Lucius, "Who smell of snow and deep forests, of gypsy spices and moonlight, you are also known among the clans."

The young wolves exchanged a slightly embarrassed glance.

"Then do you know what the Goddess has charged us with?" Leila asked.

"To unite the wolves and humans," Sirius said, "Yes, I know. A great task for one so young, but that is why I am here."

"Tell us of your task," Lucius demanded, the right of the dominant male.

"I am the leader of the Dragon Mountain clan. Our territory covers both human and dwarf realms. The dwarves give us no trouble, they are content to remain in their mines, but humans hunt and kill us for no reason, we do not take their sheep, yet we are blamed when they go missing. We do not kill their cattle, yet we are hunted for the crime. We have even been charged with killing children, and that we would never do," Sirius said angrily. "There is an enmity between our races which has no justification, but cannot be bridged by us. The humans fear us too much, and my people are too resentful of the humans to try to make them understand. You, between our two worlds, have a unique opportunity."

"Leila! The men will be ready to go in a few… oh!"

Marian had returned to the small clearing and her eyes fell upon the stranger. It was obvious what he was, even though he was in human form. His eyes were the golden eyes of a wolf, his tail was prominent and his posture, even when relaxed, was that of a hunter.

Leila leaped to the feet. "Marian, this is Sirius, of the Dragon Mountain Clan, he has come to speak to us as friends."

Sirius rose slowly. "Mistress Marian," he bowed to her, "I give you greetings from my pack and wish you health and prosperity."

Marian was staring at him, her emotions obvious on her face as she wrestled with her feelings. Finally she managed a small, wobbly curtsy to him. "Master Sirius," she returned his greeting.

Leila smiled inwardly, Marian was proving one of the greatest allies they could have, and if she was willing to give the full blooded shape shifting wolf in front of her some respect, they were making good progress. "Sirius has come to give us his aid."

"Mine and that of my pack, if your people are willing to overlook past… issues," Sirius said.

"I am," Marian said, "I have come to realise that wolves and half-wolves are not the demons in the night that we have always feared, but I cannot speak for the others. I should get Michael and William and some of the other elders."

Marian directed the last comment to Leila, who winced a little. She could imagine what the elders would say. Hidebound old men, even if they weren't all that old, were always a problem. However she could see Marian's point, if they weren't included at the start of negotiations, they would make more trouble later. "I agree," she said, "Will you bring them here?"

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Marian said and disappeared back into the trees.

"We will encounter problems here," Leila warned Sirius.

"I understand," Sirius said, "I myself had a great deal of difficulty convincing some of my pack that aiding our 'enemies' was not, and excuse my language here, pissing on tradition. I will hold my temper as well as I can."

Both of the half-wolves chuckled. "I can understand the resistance you would have met," Lucius said. "I have encountered the same politics within my own tribe."

As promised, Marian quickly returned with four elders from the invaded villages and negotiations began. As predicted there was hostility and suspicion on the human's part and it was obvious Sirius was struggling to maintain his temper. On more than one occasion it was up to Lucius in particular to do some very fast talking to smooth potential ruffled feathers and point out the advantages of the two opposing people to ally again a more dangerous foe.

By night fall negotiations had come to a conclusion with both sides if not happy, then at least content with the outcome, and the two half-wolves were exhausted. They retreated at last to their own beds and snuggled down together under the stars.

"How far we have come," Lucius commented as he gazed up at the gibbous moon. She was sliding away from her full glory towards her dark face when the two half-wolves would be as human as they could be.

"If you had asked me, as a cub, what I wanted to be when I grew up, leader of a band of freedom fighters would not have been among them," Leila replied. "I wonder what Warren is doing tonight?"

"Have you tried seeking him on the dream plane?" Lucius asked.

"Not recently, I'm a bit scared to try."

"Why?"

"The Witch," Leila said, burrowing deeper into his embrace and the comfort it gave, "I didn't destroy her, only drive her away. What if she comes back again?"

"She can't hurt you again, the Goddess made sure of that," Lucius said, trying to reassure her.

"But she's still there, somewhere, I know it. She hasn't given up, she's going to try something else."

"Then we'll tackle that problem when we come to it," Lucius kissed her gently, "For now, you have an army to lead and you need your sleep."

Leila nodded, sighed and closed her eyes. She was safe with Lucius, if she nothing else in the world, she knew that.


	34. Chapter 34 Demons Laid To Rest

Hello all. It's been a long, long journey (looks at publishing date- 2005). Yep, a very long journey. Thanks both to those who have followed it all the way, and those who are new to the tale. Nagging keeps me writing )

Despite the time its taken, I don't own 10th Kingdom or anything associated with it. Leila and Lucius sprang fully formed out of my head and if you are writing 10th Kingdom fic, you're welcome to ues them.

* * *

**Chapter 34- Demons Laid To Rest**

Leila and Lucius woke before dawn and, as become their habit, quickly scouted around the outer edges of the camp to make sure no enemy had crept up on them in the night. They both thanked their lucky stars that trolls were no where near as cunning as wolves.

Sirius was waiting for them when they returned to their small hollow, staring dubiously into a bowl of porridge in his hands.

"Humans eat this?" he asked of the two young wolves.

Leila laughed, "They do, its good for the digestion."

"I will accept your word on that," Sirius said as he put it aside, "But it is not food for wolves."

"I'd agree with you there," Lucius said with a slight grimace, "It's fine for humans and bears, but I'm not fond of it either."

"What is your plan for the day?" Sirius asked.

"It's time to track down Relish," Leila said, "We'll follow his scent and see where it leads us."

"Can the humans keep up with us?"

"They have so far. We have no wagons or horses and no one carries more than they can and the injured are sent to safety," Lucius said.

"Excellent, then Relish will find himself with more than he bargained for on his tail."

By the first hour after dawn the band of freedom fighters were on the move. As they set out, five wolves in canine form emerged from the forest and fell in with the group. The humans were wary of them at first, but soon came to accept them after they showed themselves to be non-aggressive and even made overtures of friendship in the times when they rested. Leila carefully pretended not to observe Marian tentatively reaching out to stroke the shaggy pelt of a male wolf who had lain down beside her in the shade. She hoped that it would not go beyond casual friendship, she knew only too well how difficult human/wolf alliances could be, and Marian had been so badly hurt by the loss of her husband.

Early afternoon saw the three wolves leading their small group of freedom fighters through the open countryside, following the obvious trail left by Relish and his troll army. They passed homesteads burned out and livestock slaughtered for fun in the yards. They did not stop but scouting groups of two or three humans and a couple of wolves would peel off briefly to investigate before catching the main group up again. There was no one found alive at any of the farms they passed.

Finally, close to the lands beholden by Little Lamb Village, the smell of trolls became so strong even the humans could smell it. Troll, overlain by blood, lots of blood.

They slowed as they neared the source and entered a large orchard of apple trees. There wasn't a single sound among the heavily laden trees, there were no birds, no sound of humans. The party slowed, concerned by the eerie quiet. They moved purposefully between the trees, flitting from cover to cover, staying out of site.

As they moved deeper into the orchard the silence was broken by a sound. It started so softly that even the wolves were unaware of it for a time, then grew louder as the scent of troll and blood grew stronger until they were all aware of it. A buzzing filled the air.

Near the centre of the orchard, where the farmer's house stood, lay the trolls. Dozens of them. All dead.

The freedom fighters stopped and stared in astonishment. Their enemy lay at their feet, slain by some unknown device. Flies buzzed around the bodies, and especially around the one from which the scent of blood rose.

Leila was breathing fast and shallow, unable to control her shaking body as she stood staring, barely able to comprehend what unfolded before her eyes. The head was gone, hacked from the body, but the scent was unmistakable- Relish the Troll King, her captor, her tormentor, her nightmare, lay dead at her feet, his dark blood soaking into the ground, food for the hungry flies that swarmed all over him.

Lucius caught her in his arms, drawing her face into his shoulder and away from the sight as he held her gently, but firmly as she shook in his arms. Her breath shuddered, she didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Finally she did both. Lucius held her as the hysteria of years of fear and doubt and terror burst from her body.

Around them the humans and wolves examined the bodies, looking for some cause of death. With Leila and Lucius preoccupied, they turned to Sirius for guidance. Sirius could smell something on the dead trolls, something which hung in the air, a heavy, slightly sweet, slightly bitter scent he couldn't identify. It wasn't until one of the men pulled an apple off one of the trees that alarm bells went off in his mind.

"Stop!" he yelled just as the man raised the apple to his lips. His voice held undercurrents of a growl, the deep primeval vibrations that had terrified humans since the dawn of time. The man froze.

Leila and Lucius were jolted out of their trance by the shout.

Sirius took the apple gingerly from the mans rigid grip and smelt it carefully. The sweet scent of apple was overlain by another, bitter scent. "Don't touch the apples, they have been poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Leila asked, taking the apple from him and sniffing it, "This is how they died. Who would do this?"

The five wolves ranged out and cast around for scent traces. One of them quickly reported back. "There have been horses here, a carriage and attendants, richly appointed," he growled in his deep voice, "And a woman who smells of magic and perfume, poison and blood, fear and death, and another, a strange mix of man and dog."

"A woman who smells of magic and poison?" Lucius asked. "A man who also smells like a dog? A strange combination, but familiar." He frowned as he tried to place the memory.

"There is but one it could be," Marian said as she joined them, "The Queen. We received a report that she had escaped from prison, there were road blocks put up to stop her, but no one has ever said if she was caught."

"We were stopped at one of the road blocks. The Queen was imprisoned for poisoning the King, Prince Wendell's father," Lucius said, "If she can do this she is as big a threat to the 4th Kingdom as the trolls ever where."

"A single woman alone, and she has bested Relish and his trolls," Leila said, casting a glance back at the Troll King's headless form. "She must be powerful."

"And dangerous."

"What should we do, Leila?" Marian asked.

"This isn't our fight," Leila said, "The trolls were, but the Queen is beyond anything we can handle, if she regains power she will send an army after us if we try to openly resist her."

"If she comes to power we're all going to suffer," Michael said, "You wouldn't remember what it was like when she was in power, her secret police roamed the countryside in disguise, anyone who resisted or protested against her laws simply vanished. We're not going to be ground her heel again, even if it means our deaths."

Several of the other men and women voiced their support for Michael's passionate words.

"I agree," Sirius said, "I know what she is like, she will try to use the wolves for her own ends, those of us who refuse to ally ourselves will be hunted down and butchered along with our mates and cubs."

Leila was consumed by indecision. There were so many conflicting goals and priorities. She wanted to find her brother, she wanted to run away with Lucius and find somewhere safe to live, she wanted to help these people who had opened their hearts to them, she wanted to find out how to defeat the witch once and for all, she wanted to be free, properly free. She shook her head, everything was interlinked, everything was happening for a reason, she just wished that she could figure out who was behind it all, who was pulling the strings.

"Sirius, there are still trolls out there rampaging across the country and prisoners taken to the 3rd Kingdom. Would you take command and free the 4th Kingdom from their scourge?"

"What will you do?"

"We will go Castle White and warn the Prince of the danger, get him to rally his forces and meet the Queen, defeat her before she can take power," Leila said.

Sirius nodded, "I will, if we are accepted as equals." He threw the challenge out to Marian, Michael and the other human leaders who had gathered around.

"I will accept your leadership, and your friendship if you offer it," Michael said.

"I offer my friendship with all my soul," Sirius said. "Let us work together and we will see what comes of it." He held out his hand and, after a moment of hesitation, Michael took it.

Leila let go of the breath she had been holding. It was a small step, but maybe the seeds planted today would spout.

"See," Lucius whispered in her ear, "You are bringing the wolves and the humans together, as was foretold."

"And without intending too," Leila whispered back. "If we are going to get the castle in good time we are going to have to leave now."

Sirius' ears, as sharp as ever, picked up on the whispered conversation. "Good hunting, my friends," he said, "May the Great Goddess guide your steps and lead you surely to your prey."

"Thankyou, and take care. Our future and the future of our kind is in your hands now," Leila said. "Marian, you have been a good friend, will you be a bridge between our people?"

"I will try, Leila," the young woman said, placing her hand fondly on the shoulder ruff of one of the large male wolves.

_Oh dear,_ Leila thought to herself. Their future is out of our hands now.


	35. Chapter 35 Storm the Castle

Chapter 35-

Castle White stood in magnificent splendour in vast grounds. Leila and Lucius crouched in the woods on the edge of the gardens and observed the castle glowing in the distance. Night had long since fallen and the castle was lit up with thousands of lamps and candles and torches lined the road.

"This isn't going to be easy," Leila murmured. They had watched dozens of dignitaries from all over the 9 Kingdoms arrive as the sun set, a great stream of gilded and painted carriages with tall feather plumes, flags and liveried footmen. "With all these dignitaries here it would be easier getting into a brick built hen house."

"A frontal assault isn't going to work," Lucius said. "The guards will see us and if they don't shoot us on sight we'll be arrested and thrown in prison."

Leila shivered at the idea of being locked up in that grim place where Lucius' grandfather had died and Warren had suffered so much. "This is suicide," she murmured to herself. She was plagued with doubts, how could they possibly entice royalty to listen to them, a couple of scruffy, road weary half-wolves. The royals were not like the villagers who had been willing to place their trust in two very dangerous creatures in a very dangerous time. "I don't know how we are going to do this." King Wendell would be just like her aunt, Queen Red, cold, distant, unwilling to listen, scornful, hate filled.

"Leila, we have to try," Lucius said. "If the Queen comes to power there won't be anywhere safe for us in all the 9 Kingdoms, or our friends."

"I know," Leila said. The Queen would gypsies, Lucius' family, when they refused to bow to her. The Queen would hunt down Sirius and the other wolves who would not work for her and display their pelts like trophies on her wall. She would enslave and oppress the people in all the villages from the Northern Sea to the Southern Ocean. "Let's try around the side."

They quickly skirted the groomed parklands surrounding the palace until Leila stopped dead, a familiar scent coming to her nose. She caught Lucius' arm, halting him abruptly. Squatting down she touched a place in the bracken broken and flattened as though a little dragon had tried to make its nest there, but no dragon ever left a scent like that.

"Lucius, Warren's been here," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"I know his scent as I know yours. He was here."

Lucius crouched down beside her and sniffed around as well. "There's another scent here, a woman, fully human." He gave a surprised snort. "They were certainly... enthusiastic."

"Come on!" Leila exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "The scent isn't more than a few hours old, they are close by!"

"Leila, wait!" Lucius shouted, but Leila was already off and running. He swore quietly and ran after her.

The trail led them to the edge of the woods where another scent joined the two lovers, a man, older, full of fear. His scent was similar to that of the woman, obviously blood kin. The trail led them right up to the palace moat, cleverly keeping to the shadows and black spots where no guard post could see them. In one direction, some distance away was a bridge over the moat, in the other was darkness leading around behind the palace.

"They went into the water here," Leila said, touching the imprint of a shoe on the muddy bank. On the other side of the water was the palace wall. She gave frustrated grunt. "There's no way we can tell which way they went."

"Well, we cane either try to find how they got in, or we can look for a way ourselves," Lucius said, shivering a little at the thought of going into the water. His experience in the 6th Kingdom hadn't endeared him to water. "Let's look before we go for a swim."

Leila nodded and the slipped into the darkness away from the bridge. The kept close to the waters edge, hidden in the darkness until they came upon another bridge and a path which lead up to an unassuming gate at the rear of the palace. They crouched in the shrubs and watched as a farm cart trundled up to the bridge only to be halted by a pair of guards who came across the bridge and took a look in the cart before returning across the bridge and waving the carter on.

"Did you see that," Leila whispered to Lucius.

"They didn't wait until the cart was past before they went back to their posts," Lucius answered, having observed the same thing.

"There was at least three or four second delay while the carter got his team moving again," Leila said.

"But the guards are watching it go past. We wouldn't be able to jump on the back and hide ourselves in time," Lucius said.

"How about underneath?" Leila asked. "Could we roll under in a few seconds and grab the axles?"

"Risky," Lucius said, "If you missed you'd be left behind and wouldn't you look a fool lying on the ground in front of the guards."

"That would get us into the palace at least, even if not where we want to be."

"Thrown into the dungeons would not be productive," Lucius agreed.

"Does a palace have dungeons?" Leila asked, looking up at the elegant, towering edifice.

"All castles have dungeons in my experience," Lucius said sourly, "No matter what they call themselves."

"There's another cart coming. Are you ready?"

"Can I think about this?" Lucius asked, only half jokingly.

"No, get ready."

The process was repeated. The cart halted, the guards came, questioned the driver and looked in the back. The two half-wolves crouched ready and waiting. As soon as the guards turned their back to walk the cart across the bridge they pounced. It was the work of only a second or two to race to the cart, roll underneath it and grab hold of the underside, pulling themselves off the road.

Leila nearly lost her grip when the cart jolted back into motion, but managed to dig her nails into the wood and scramble for a better foot hold. Lucius slipped a little, one foot dropping from his precarious perch to rattled along the wooden boards of the bridge before he managed to swing it back over the axle.

"Hold on!" Lucius whispered urgently as Leila strained to hold her grip as the cart bounced over the uneven road.

It took a few minutes, but they were soon through the gates of the kitchen courtyard and into the heaving, shouting mass of people who were trying to make party in the throne room a success. The two wolves let go, landing on the hard cobbled courtyard and peering out at the scurrying people.

"There's the kitchen door," Leila pointed out, it was the door through which most people were running in and out.

"And I think that that's the wine cellar," Lucius pointed at a door in another wall. Rumbling and swearing overhead caught their attention and they watched as ramps were laid against the tail gate of their cart and barrels rolled down.

"Careful with that, your idiots!" the carter screamed at a couple of plainly dressed servants who were rolling the barrels towards the cellar, "That's best brandy, you need to treat it with respect."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on!" one of the men shouted back.

"What do you think?" Lucius asked.

"They aren't much cleaner than us at the moment," Leila commented. "If we're quick we might make it."

"Keep your head down," Lucius said.

They rolled out from under the cart and came up quickly, just in time to grab the next barrel rolling down towards them.

"Who are you?" the carter asked, startled at their sudden appearance.

"We're from the village," Lucius said in a passable bucolic accent, "We was sent up to help with the heavy work, like."

"Well, you just be careful with that barrel, that brandy is worth more than you would see in a year."

"Yes sir," Lucius said, tugging at his forelock. Leila struggled to contain her laughter.

Together they manhandled the barrel towards the cellar and down the ramp into the darkness. Once they had place the barrel in its proper place they ducked behind the stacks and Leila gave in to her laughter, muffling it with her hand.

"You, my love, are a genius," she said.

"Thank you. Now let's go find the King and give him our warning."

Leila's face fell when she remembered their purpose. "Do you really think that the King will grant _us_ an audience."

"Are you really willing to give into your doubts now? After everything we've been through?" Lucius asked, grasping her shoulders, making her look at him. "You're so strong, so sure. Don't let yourself be distracted from your purpose now."

Leila nodded slowly and smiled. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," she said to him. "Without you I would have given up a long time ago."

"You saved my life," Lucius said, "That makes me your loyal and obedient servant now and in the next world."

"Let's hope that this doesn't result in us ending up in the next world," Leila said, a smiled and quick kiss taking the seriousness out of her words. "Let's find out what fate and the Goddess has in store for us."

"Lead on, mighty warrior."

They went through the internal door and into the palace, dodging servants and footmen who hurried back and forth with trays of food and drinks for the noble guests. The two half-wolves were very out of place in their travel-stained, rather scruffy clothing and they were careful not to be seen by anyone who may take offence at their presence. Above them the night sky exploded into fireworks to mark midnight.

A great chorus of voices rang through the hall ways.

"To ever lasting peace, and all the bones we can gnaw!"

"What the?" Leila asked. Lucius just shrugged.

They followed the sound, keeping to the shadows, until they started hearing people gagging and retching, and bodies hitting the ground.

"Oh no," Leila murmured.

Throwing caution to the wind the wolves ran through the hall, skidding to a halt on the gallery above the ball room. Below was a horrifying scene. The ball room floor was covered with bodies dressed in silks, satins, glowing colours and bright jewels and in the middle stood a footman, dark haired and holding a silver platter, staring around him in consternation. An imperious looking woman dressed in a plum cloak gloated over the corpses.

"Anyone for seconds?" she asked jovially. No one answered, the dead could not speak. "No?" She strolled through the littered bodies as though through a flower bed.

Leila started forward, but Lucius pulled her back into the shelter of a swath of curtain. All she could do was stare at the scene. He was there, her brother. She couldn't deny he as her brother, even after all these years she recognised him instantly. She was there too, the witch she had fought on and off for years, dressed in the body of the wicked Queen who smelled of poison and magic.

"Warren, what have you done?" Leila asked softly. "We're too late, the Queen has won." She turned into Lucius' embrace. There was nothing for them now. Warren, her own dear brother had sold his soul to evil, the royalty of all the 9 Kingdoms lay dead at his feet. There was no where for them to run, no where for them to hide. It was over. The wolves stood there, half-hidden, despairing.

"We will die together, my love," Lucius said softly. "We will get out of here and we will fight her to the bitter end."

"What's the point?" Leila asked. "She will win, no matter what we do."

"She will, but her victory doesn't have to be easy, does it? We will find Sirius and Marina and organise a resistance. We won't go down without a fight."

Leila shook her head. "Your right, we will exact vengeance for all those she has slaughtered."

"Come on," Lucius said, and pulled her gently away.

Leila looked down into the throne room one last time at her brother who had become her enemy. "Wait!" she said, pulling Lucius back. "Look!"

The Huntsman was there, pushing a girl into the midst of the carnage.

"You certainly are persistent," the Queen said.

"Are you going to kill me as well?" the girl asked, her voice wavering as she tried to stand up to the Queen.

"I was going to let you go," the Queen said, a strange note of care, almost affection in her voice. "I don't know why."

"You know why!" the girl insisted.

"Go, leave me, get out while you can," the Queen said.

"She's fighting the witch," Leila said, "The witch has control of her, but she's fighting. Why?"

"No." The girl's voice was firm.

There was a long pause. The Queen gathered herself. "You were nothing bus an accident. You should have been killed at birth," she said harshly, but the wolves recognised what she was trying to do, she was trying to push the girl away, fuel her hatred, make her leave, save her.

"I don't understand," Lucius said, "Who is she?"

"They know each other, but how?"

The girl took three steps forward and lashed out, striking the Queen across the face. "How dare you! How dare you speak to me like that!"

The witch gained control of the Queen, the person fighting to get out was drowned, extinguished, vanished like the mist in the sun. "Kill her now! Kill her, or I will do it myself."

The Huntsman gave an indifferent shrug and levelled the cross bow at the girl. Both the half-wolves sprang forward to the rail, ready to throw themselves over the save the innocent girl who had stood so bravely against the darkness. They were not quick enough, Warren beat them to it. He threw himself onto the Huntsman, forcing his arm up just as the trigged was pulled, sending the deadly bolt straight up.

"Wolf!" the girl cried out in fear.

Warren wrestled with the Huntsman, forcing him back onto a table, scattering platters of food and pitchers of wine as they struggled, locked in combat. At the same time the Queen stepped forward and wrapped her hands around the girl's throat, strangling her. The two wolves ran for the staircase, but they were too far away, they weren't going to make it.

It all happened so quickly. The Huntsman wrestled Warren over so he was on top, pinning the half-wolf to the table as he drew a knife. Before he could strike the bolt he had fired straight up came straight down and plunged into the Huntsman's back. The bolt never missed its mark. The Huntsman looked surprised for a moment, then collapsed on top of Warren.

At the same time the girl reached out and pulled something out of the Queen's hair, slashing it across her neck. The Queen staggered back, clutching at the shallow scratches on her neck. She brought her hand to her eyes, her white glove stained with her blood.

"You've drawn blood," she whispered, horrified.

Leila and Lucius tumbled down the stairs, but there was little left for them to do, the fight was over. The Queen walked away, a few stately paces before she collapsed. The girl ran to her side, cradling her tenderly.

"No, please don't die," she sobbed, "Don't die. Just remember who you are."

"It's too late," the Queen said, her voice growing weaker. "Don't cry, my little girl. I gave away my soul."

"Her daughter?" Leila asked rhetorically as she and Lucius watched, spellbound, at the bottom of the stairs.

The girl sobbed and screamed as the Queen slowly closed her eyes and gave herself up to death.

As the Queen died a darkness rose from her still body, and a scream of pure psychic force tore through the room, sending Leila and Lucius reeling and falling to their knees as the shriek pounded their minds like mighty waves driven before a great storm. The two wolves fought against the mental tempest, blinded and deafened by the rage and groped towards each other. They found each other and held on tightly, building a protective wall around themselves using bricks built with love and trust, giving each other total access to their minds, hearts and souls to build that sheild and protect themselves from the enraged might of the Witch.

With the fury pushed back, Leila was able to see again. Beyond the shimmering barrier of their shield, visible only to the eyes of those sensitive enough, was a dark cloud, boiling and writhing almost like a living creature in the throes of agony. It coiled around the two wolves, then streamed back towards the girl, enveloping her and seeping into her mind and body.

"No!" Leila screamed, the Witch had lost one host, but she was determined to take another. There was nothing she could do, the Witch had claimed a new host and Leila was helpless to stop her. She collapsed into Lucius' arms.

Around them, people started to stir. The Prince sat up, clutching his head.

"I think I had too much champagne," he moaned.

Lucius grabbed Leila and hauled her bodily into an alcove, out of site of the throng of reviving guests. If they were found there, he reasoned, they may well be blamed for the poisoning, if that was what it truly was. He held Leila as she shook and sobbed in his arms, keeping his broad back between her and the throng.

"Why aren't your all dead?" the girl asked as the guests revived around her. Warren was there, leading a lovely golden retriever, unbuckling its collar. "Didn't you poison everybody?"

"No," Warren said, "Troll dust, I swapped the poison for a pinch of troll dust." He finished unbuckling the collar and gave the dog a pat. "Go for it, Wendy."

"Leila, Leila, watch," Lucius shook her gently, bringing her out of her shock.

"What? What's happening?" she asked.

"Warren didn't kill them all, it was a trick, look!"

The golden retriever threw itself at the Prince and in a moment of confusion and magic, the dog and Prince swapped places. The ball room was suddenly full of cheering people. The two half-wolves didn't really understand what was going on, but everyone seemed so happy.

An elf was standing there, not cheering, but looking around with fear and confusion. She studied the ball room and her eyes fixed firmly on the alcove where the wolves were hiding. She marched over to them. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Guards!"

A pair of guards, still recovering from the effects of the troll dust quickly pulled themselves together and marched over. Lucius tried to shield Leila, but they were both hauled out into the open and frog marched towards the King. The crowd parted for them, two scruffy people in the midst of slightly mussed splendour. The two wolves were forced to their knees before the King.

"Who are you?" Wendell asked, perplexed at the sudden events, "And what's been going on here? Leaffall?"

"There has been a magical disruption, your Majesty," the Elf Queen said firmly, "Evil is at work here, and these two stink of it."

"Your Majesty, please, I can explain," Lucius said.

"Leila?" Warren stared at the two wolves. "Leila, is that? Can it really be?"

"Wolf? What's going on?" Wendell asked.

"That's... that's my sister. Leila?"

Leila stared at her confused brother. "Warren, please tell me you didn't make a pact with the Witch. I don't want to lose you after I've just found you."

"A pact with the Witch, no! Leila, how... when... Are you real?"

Leila climbed to her feet. "I could ask you the same. Are you really Warren Wolfson, my brother?"

"Yes, oh YES!" Warren laughed and cried and grabbed her around the waist and lifted her, spinning her around and hugging her. "Leila, I've been looking for you for 12 years!"

"I know," Leila said, "And I've been looking for you, my brother."

"Would you kindly explain what is going on!" Wendell commanded sternly.

Leila untangled herself from her brothers embrace. "Your Majesty, Leaffall is right, there is evil here, an ancient evil, older than the Queen, older than the Five Great Women of History, an evil which has sought to dominate our land across the ages. The Witch, as I know this evil, has lost her host, the Queen, your Step-mother, and found a new one."

"You?" Wendell asked, drawing away from her.

"No, but someone innocent, someone who has no idea the damage that the evil can do."

"Your Majesty," Lucius broke in, "We need to talk, somewhere private."

"Virginia?" Warren was bending over the girl, collapsed by the Queen, her mother's side. "Virginia, wake up! Virginia!" His voice was rising to scream.

Lucius quickly ran to his side and bent to talk quickly in his ear, quietening the frantic wolf. Leila turned to the King. "Your Majesty, this is something I don't think we should discuss among this assembly," she said quietly. She knew what she had to do, it scared her, but she would do it. "I mean no disrespect to the assembled nobility, but this should be handled quietly."

"Very well. Wolf, bring Virginia. You two, come with me."

"I'm coming too," an older, stout man in oddly common clothing said.

"Of course, Tony," Wendell said with a fond smile.


	36. Chapter 36 The Ball

**Chapter 36- The Ball**

Leila and Lucius slipped out of the cellar through the internal door and into the palace, dodging servants and footmen who hurried back and forth with trays of food and drinks for the noble guests. The two half-wolves were very out of place in their travel-stained, rather scruffy clothing and they were careful not to be seen by anyone who may take offence at their presence. Above them the night sky exploded into fireworks to mark midnight.

A great chorus of voices rang through the hall ways.

"To ever lasting peace, and all the bones we can gnaw!"

"What the?" Leila asked. Lucius just shrugged.

They followed the sound, keeping to the shadows, until they started hearing people gagging and retching, and bodies hitting the ground.

"Oh no," Leila murmured.

Throwing caution to the wind the wolves ran through the hall, skidding to a halt on the gallery above the ball room. Below was a horrifying scene. The ball room floor was covered with bodies dressed in silks, satins, glowing colours and bright jewels and in the middle stood a footman, dark haired and holding a silver platter, staring around him in consternation. An imperious looking woman dressed in a plum cloak gloated over the corpses.

"Anyone for seconds?" she asked jovially. No one answered, the dead could not speak. "No?" She strolled through the littered bodies as though through a flower bed.

Leila started forward, but Lucius pulled her back into the shelter of a swath of curtain. All she could do was to stare at the scene. He was there, her brother. She couldn't deny he was her brother, even after all these years she recognised him instantly. She was there too, the witch she had fought on and off for years, dressed in the body of the wicked Queen who smelled of poison and magic.

"Warren, what have you done?" Leila asked softly. "We're too late, the Queen has won." She turned into Lucius' embrace. There was nothing for them now. Warren, her own dear brother had sold his soul to evil, the royalty of all the 9 Kingdoms lay dead at his feet. There was no where for them to run, no where for them to hide. It was over. The wolves stood there, half-hidden, despairing.

"We will die together, my love," Lucius said softly. "We will get out of here and we will fight her to the bitter end."

"What's the point?" Leila asked. "She will win, no matter what we do."

"She will, but her victory doesn't have to be easy, does it? We will find Sirius and Marina and organise a resistance. We won't go down without a fight."

Leila shook her head. "You're right, we will exact vengeance for all those she has slaughtered."

"Come on," Lucius said, and pulled her gently away.

Leila looked down into the throne room one last time at her brother who had become her enemy. "Wait!" she said, pulling Lucius back. "Look!"

The Huntsman was there, pushing a girl into the midst of the carnage.

"You certainly are persistent," the Queen said.

"Are you going to kill me as well?" the girl asked, her voice wavering as she tried to stand up to the Queen.

"I was going to let you go," the Queen said, a strange note of care, almost affection in her voice. "I don't know why."

"You know why!" the girl insisted.

"Go, leave me, get out while you can," the Queen said.

"She's fighting the witch," Leila said, "The witch has control of her, but she's fighting. Why?"

"No." The girl's voice was firm.

There was a long pause. The Queen gathered herself. "You were nothing bus an accident. You should have been killed at birth," she said harshly, but the wolves recognised what she was trying to do, she was trying to push the girl away, fuel her hatred, make her leave, save her.

"I don't understand," Lucius said, "Who is she?"

"They know each other, but how?"

The girl took three steps forward and lashed out, striking the Queen across the face. "How dare you! How dare you speak to me like that!"

The witch gained control of the Queen, the person fighting to get out was drowned, extinguished, vanished like the mist in the sun. "Kill her now! Kill her, or I will do it myself."

The Huntsman gave an indifferent shrug and levelled the cross bow at the girl. Both the half-wolves sprang forward to the rail, ready to throw themselves over the save the innocent girl who had stood so bravely against the darkness. They were not quick enough, Warren beat them to it. He threw himself onto the Huntsman, forcing his arm up just as the trigged was pulled, sending the deadly bolt straight up.

"Wolf!" the girl cried out in fear. Fear of Warren, or fear for Warren?

Warren wrestled with the Huntsman, forcing him back onto a table, scattering platters of food and pitchers of wine as they struggled, locked in combat. At the same time the Queen stepped forward and wrapped her hands around the girl's throat, strangling her. The two wolves ran for the staircase, but they were too far away, they weren't going to make it.

It all happened so quickly. The Huntsman wrestled Warren over so he was on top, pinning the half-wolf to the table as he drew a knife. Before he could strike the bolt he had fired straight up came straight down and plunged into the Huntsman's back. The bolt never missed its mark. The Huntsman looked surprised for a moment, then collapsed on top of Warren.

At the same time the girl reached out and pulled something out of the Queen's hair, slashing it across her neck. The Queen staggered back, clutching at the shallow scratches on her neck. She brought her hand to her eyes, her white glove stained with her blood.

"You've drawn blood," she whispered, horrified.

Leila and Lucius tumbled down the stairs, but there was little left for them to do, the fight was over. The Queen walked away, a few stately paces before she collapsed. The girl ran to her side, cradling her tenderly.

"No, please don't die," she sobbed, "Don't die. Just remember who you are."

"It's too late," the Queen said, her voice growing weaker. "Don't cry, my little girl. I gave away my soul."

"Her daughter?" Leila asked rhetorically as she and Lucius watched, spellbound, at the bottom of the stairs.

The girl sobbed and screamed as the Queen slowly closed her eyes and gave herself up to death.

As the Queen died an invisible darkness rose from her still body, and a scream of pure psychic force tore through the room, sending Leila and Lucius reeling and falling to their knees as the shriek pounded their minds like mighty waves driven before a great storm. The two wolves fought against the mental tempest, blinded and deafened by the rage and groped towards each other. They found each other and held on tightly, building a protective wall around themselves using bricks built with love and trust, giving each other total access to their minds, hearts and souls to build that shield and protect themselves from the enraged might of the Witch.

With the fury pushed back, Leila was able to see again. Beyond the shimmering barrier of their shield, visible only to the eyes of those sensitive enough, was a dark cloud, boiling and writhing almost like a living creature in the throes of agony. It coiled around the two wolves, then streamed back towards the girl, enveloping her and seeping into her mind and body.

"No!" Leila screamed, the Witch had lost one host, but she was determined to take another. She shook her head helplessly, "Now what do I do?" she asked no one in particular.

_There is a way_, a gentle voice sounded in her mind. _She hasn't won yet._

Around them, people started to stir. The Prince sat up, clutching his head.

"I think I had too much champagne," he moaned.

Lucius grabbed Leila and pulled into an alcove, out of site of the throng of reviving guests. If they were found there, he reasoned, they may well be blamed for the poisoning, if that was what it truly was. Together they crouched, hiding and watching, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Why aren't your all dead?" the girl asked as the guests revived around her. Warren was there, leading a lovely golden retriever, unbuckling its collar. "Didn't you poison everybody?"

"No," Warren said, "Troll dust, I swapped the poison for a pinch of troll dust." He finished unbuckling the collar and gave the dog a pat. "Go for it, Wendy."

The golden retriever threw itself at the Prince and in a moment of confusion and magic, the dog and Prince swapped places. The ball room was suddenly full of cheering people. The two half-wolves didn't really understand what was going on, but everyone seemed so happy.

"He didn't kill them," Leila said, "He isn't an ally of the Witch. I hope."

An elf was standing there, not cheering, but looking around with fear and confusion. She studied the ball room and her eyes fixed firmly on the alcove where the wolves were hiding. She marched over to them. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Guards!"

A pair of guards, still recovering from the effects of the troll dust quickly pulled themselves together and marched over. Lucius tried to shield Leila, but they were both hauled out into the open and frog marched towards the King. The crowd parted for them, two scruffy people in the midst of slightly mussed splendour. The two wolves were forced to their knees before the King.

"Who are you?" Wendell asked, perplexed at the sudden events, "And what's been going on here? Leaffall?"

"There has been a magical disruption, your Majesty," the Elf Queen said firmly, "Evil is at work here, and these two stink of it."

"Your Majesty, please, there is more going on here than you know," Lucius said.

"Leila?" Warren stared at the two wolves. "Leila, is that? Can it really be?"

"Wolf? You know theses people?" Wendell asked.

"That's... that's my sister. Leila?"

Leila stared at her confused brother. "Warren, please tell me you didn't make a pact with the Witch. I don't want to lose you after I've just found you."

"A pact with the Witch, no! Leila, how... when... Are you real?"

Leila climbed to her feet. "I could ask you the same. Are you really Warren Wolfson, my brother?"

"Yes, oh YES!" Warren laughed and cried and grabbed her around the waist and lifted her, spinning her around and hugging her. "Leila, I've been looking for you for 10 years!"

"I know," Leila said, "And I've been looking for you, my brother."

"Would you kindly explain what is going on!" Wendell commanded sternly.

Leila untangled herself from her brother's embrace. "Your Majesty, Leaffall is right, there is evil here, an ancient evil, older than the Queen, older than the Five Great Women of History, an evil which has sought to dominate our land across the ages. The Witch, as I know this evil, has lost her host, the Queen, your Step-mother, and found a new one."

"You?" Wendell asked, drawing away from her.

"No, but someone innocent, someone who has no idea the damage that the evil can do."

"Your Majesty," Lucius broke in, "We need to talk, somewhere private."

"Virginia?" Warren was bending over the girl, collapsed by the Queen, her mother's side. "Virginia, wake up! Virginia!" His voice was rising to scream.


End file.
